misfortune, bad luck - unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event

act of God, force majeure, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty, vis major - a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events; "he discovered that his house was not insured against acts of God"

apocalypse - a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil

famine - a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death

kiss of death - something that is ruinous; "if this were known it would be the kiss of death for my political career"

meltdown - a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown; "there is little likelihood of a meltdown comparable to the American banking collapse in March 1933"

plague - any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)

visitation - any disaster or catastrophe; "a visitation of the plague"

drama - the literary genre of works intended for the theater

tragicomedy - a dramatic composition involving elements of both tragedy and comedy usually with the tragic predominating