catastrophize

present singular third person catastrophizes · participle present catastrophizing · participle past catastrophized · past catastrophized · alternative catastrophise

1. intransitivetransitiveTo regard a bad situation as if it were disastrous or catastrophic.
2. intransitivetransitivehuman sciencesTo expose a behavior pattern of seeking the worst interpretation and magnifying the disagreeable outcomes (of).

   Another way to catastrophize is to jump to an extreme conclusion from an unimportant or irrelevant event.

   2001, David H. Barlow, Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders

   3 more examples

   Particularly likely to overreact are those who tend to catastrophize (Ellis, 1962) and those who have Type A personalities (Friedman & Rosenman, 1974).

   1947, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, University of Michigan Research Center for Group Dynamics, Human Relations

   [I]ndividuals who catastrophized reported worse health-related quality of life, higher psychological distress, and perceived more somatic symptoms, worse consequences, and more severe emotional impact as compared to those participants who did not catastrophize.

   2017, LeeAnne B. Sherwin, Emily Leary, Wendy A. Henderson, “The association of catastrophizing with quality-of-life outcomes in patients with irritable bowel syndrome”, in Quality of Life Research, volume 26, number 8, →DOI

   “The Great Feminization” catastrophizes wildly about the future, presumably because what’s happening in the present utterly undermines its central thesis.

   2025 November 5, Sophie Gilbert, “No, Women Aren’t the Problem”, in The Atlantic

   Synonyms: awfulize

3. obsoleteTo end a comedy.