vis major

noun

A greater force; an act of God; an unavoidable accident.

Similar
act of Godforce majeureinevitable accidentunavoidable casualty
OriginLatin vīs maior →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounvis major (uncountable)
  1. uncountablelawA greater force; an act of God; an unavoidable accident.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events

Similar
act of Godforce majeureinevitable accidentunavoidable casualty
Broader
calamitycatastrophedisaster
Also see
act of godforce majeure

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinvīs maior
  2. Latinvīs maior
  3. Englishvis major

Learned borrowing from Latin vīs maior.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

vis major. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vis%20major

MLA

“vis major.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vis%20major. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vis major,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vis%20major.

Source: vis major on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.