Catastrophe vs. Tragedy — What's the Difference?

A great, often sudden calamity.

Tragedy (from the Greek: τραγῳδία, tragōidia) is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain [that] awakens pleasure", for the audience.

A complete failure; a fiasco

A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.

The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy, following the climax and containing a resolution of the plot.

The genre made up of such works.

A sudden violent change in the earth's surface; a cataclysm.

The art or theory of writing or producing these works.

Any large and disastrous event of great significance.

A play, film, television program, or other narrative work that portrays or depicts calamitous events and has an unhappy but meaningful ending.

(insurance) A disaster beyond expectations.

A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life

(narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.

A tragic aspect or element.

(mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.

An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune.

The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.

The final event in a romance or a dramatic piece; a denouement, as a death in a tragedy, or a marriage in a comedy.

A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.

A violent and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes.

A dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing a signal action performed by some person or persons, and having a fatal issue; that species of drama which represents the sad or terrible phases of character and life.

An event resulting in great loss and misfortune;

A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence.

A state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune;

An event resulting in great loss and misfortune;

A sudden violent change in the earth's surface

Drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity