Tsunami

//(t)suːˈnɑːmi// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a series of waves (a wave train).

    "A tsunami struck Japan recently."

  2. 2
    a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption wordnet
  3. 3
    A large and generally unstoppable surge. figuratively

    "It seemed that what started out as a handful of isolated cases gradually turned into a tsunami of complaints."

Synonyms

All synonyms
tidal waveapoplexybillowborebreakerbreakers

Example

More examples

"The coast was warned against a tsunami."

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 津波 (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbour”) + 波 (nami, “wave”).

Related phrases

fog tsunamiice tsunamiorphaned tsunamisilver tsunamitsunami wallnatural disastertidal wavetsunami earthquakewave train

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.