Word for Today - Sept 13, 2009

cataclysm - KAT-uh-KLISM - disaster, upheaval, catastrophe, devastation, debacle

Example: "The NY Times made the following comment: 'One year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, there is little change on Wall Street from that cataclysm; the surprise is not how much has changed in the financial industry, but how little.'"