In a manner relating to or characteristic of a catastrophe; in a way that is sudden, violent, and usually very damaging.
From 'catastrophical' + the adverbial suffix '-ly,' which turns adjectives into adverbs describing how something happens. This traces back to Greek 'catastrophe.'
When you add '-ly' to make an adverb, you're taking an adjective and explaining how an action happens—so 'catastrophically' tells us not just that something is bad, but that it happened in a sudden, overwhelming way.
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