Phrase guide

disaster waiting to happen

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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noun

Meaning 1

Something potentially very dangerous or likely to fail.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Attested 1940s, apparently modeled after accident waiting to happen.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

disasters waiting to happen — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: none provided

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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