tsunami

• sunami (nonstandard)

Borrowed from Japanese 津(つ)波(なみ) (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbour”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/; enPR: (t)so͞o-nä'mi

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /(t)suˈnæmi/, /(t)suˈnɑmi/
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃʊˈn̪aː.mi/
• Rhymes: -ɑːmi

tsunami (plural tsunami or tsunamis)

1. A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a series of waves (a wave train).
   • 2007 February 20, Tina Kelley, “A Wet Wind Tunnel So Ships Can Move Faster and Better”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     A wave simulator in the tank can re-enact tsunamis and northeasters, and imitate wave conditions from midocean.

2. (figurative) A large and generally unstoppable surge.
   • 2009, John Bernard Kelly, An Accidental Atheist: A Memoir, Aquinine books, →ISBN, page 306:

     It seemed that what started out as a handful of isolated cases gradually turned into a tsunami of complaints.

   • 2009, Marc Eliot, American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood, Crown Archetype, →ISBN, page 86:

     It set off a tsunami of debate among the more esoteric critics, who either loved it or hated it but could not ignore it.

   • 2012, Demetra M. Pappas, The Euthanasia/Assisted-Suicide Debate, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 60:

     The next decade would culminate in a tsunami of legislation, civil litigation, and criminal prosecutions in which assisted suicide was both criminalized (as in Michigan) and decriminalized (as in Oregon).

   • 2020 August 26, Nigel Harris, “Comment Special: Catastrophe at Carmont”, in Rail, page 4:

     The editor paid a heavy price - he was subsequently compelled to offer a grovelling and humiliating personal apology, following a tsunami of protest.

   • 2025 June 21, Jo Ellison, “The Bezos merger we all want a piece of”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 22:

     Sadly, [Anna] Wintour did not control the weather, which was disappointingly inclement. But, no matter, because the event was awash with a “tsunami of love”.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:tsunami.

• seismic sea wave
• tidal wave (usage conflict)

• earthquake
• flood
• natural disaster
• seaquake
• seiche
• tidal wave
• tsunami earthquake
• waterquake

• tsunami on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• tsunami on Wikiversity.Wikiversity
• Category:tsunami on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

• Mustain, Natsumi, manitus, santimu, utinams

Borrowed from English tsunami, borrowed from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi
• IPA^(key): /tsuˈnami/ [t̪s̪ʊˈn̪a.mɪ]

tsunami

1. tsunami

• cunami (less common)

Borrowed from Japanese 津(つ)波(なみ) (tsunami).

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sunamɪ]
• Rhymes: -amɪ
• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami f (indeclinable)

1. (oceanography) tsunami
2. (figurative) tsunami (disruptive event of significant magnitude, whose effects resemble those of a tsunami)

• “tsunami”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “tsunami”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Borrowed from Japanese 津波.

tsunami

1. tsunami

From Japanese 津波.

• IPA^(key): /tsuˈnaːmi/

• Audio:

  (file)

tsunami m (plural tsunami's, diminutive tsunamietje n)

1. tsunami

• vloedgolf

From Japanese 津波.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsunɑmi/, [ˈts̠unɑ̝mi]
• Rhymes: -unɑmi
• Syllabification^(key): tsu‧na‧mi
• Hyphenation^(key): tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami

1. tsunami

• “tsunami”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

• minusta, mitsuna, muistan, mustina

From Japanese 津波 / 津浪 (つなみ, tsunami, “harbour wave”).

• IPA^(key): /tsy.na.mi/, /tsu.na.mi/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

tsunami m (plural tsunamis)

1. tsunami

• “tsunami”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami, “tsunami, tidal wave, tidal bore”), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /suˈnami/ [suˈna.mi]
• Rhymes: -ami

tsunami (plural tsunami-tsunami)

1. tsunami (large, destructive wave generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean)

   Synonym: (uncommon) semong

• “tsunami” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

tsunami m (invariable)

1. tsunami

tsunami

1. Rōmaji transcription of つなみ

Borrowed from Japanese 津波.

• IPA^(key): [(t)su.na.mi]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -mi, -i
• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami (Jawi spelling تسونامي, plural tsunami-tsunami)

1. tsunami

• “tsunami” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Japanese 津波 (tsunami), via English tsunami.

tsunami m (definite singular tsunamien, indefinite plural tsunamier, definite plural tsunamiene)

1. a tsunami

• “tsunami” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “tsunami” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Japanese 津波 (tsunami), via English tsunami.

tsunami m (definite singular tsunamien, indefinite plural tsunamiar, definite plural tsunamiane)

1. a tsunami

• “tsunami” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from English tsunami.

• IPA^(key): /tsuˈna.mi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami n (indeclinable)

1. (oceanography) tsunami (very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a series of waves (a wave train))

   Hypernym: fala

2. (figurative) tsunami (violent event that changes or completely shatters the previous state of something)

   Synonym: tornado

3. (figurative) tsunami, flood (appearance of some emotion, behavior, or phenomenon in large quantities or in high intensity) [with genitive]

   Synonyms: natłok, tornado

4. (figurative) tsunami, flood (huge number of people gathered in some place and moving to somewhere) [with genitive]

   Hypernym: fala

• tsunami in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tsunami in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• tsunami in PWN's encyclopedia

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese, 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami m (plural tsunamis)

1. alternative spelling of tsunâmi

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese, 津波(つなみ) (tsunami).

tsunami m (plural tsunamiuri)

1. tsunami

• sunami

Borrowed from English tsunami, from Japanese 津波 (tsunami, “harbour wave”).

• IPA^(key): /suˈnami/ [suˈna.mi], /tsuˈnami/ [t̪suˈna.mi]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami m (plural tsunamis)

1. tsunami
   • 2001 [1999], Marco Cisternas V., transl., compiled by Brian F. Atwater et al., Sobreviviendo a un tsunami: lecciones de Chile, Hawai y Japón (U.S. Geological Survey Circular; 1218), translation of Surviving a Tsunami—Lessons From Chile, Hawaii, and Japan (in English), →ISBN, page 8:

     Durante el tsunami chileno de 1960, refugiarse en lugares altos y esperar allí salvó muchas vidas, no sólo en Chile, sino también en Onagawa, Japón […]. En este poblado, las destructivas olas […] alcanzaron alturas de hasta 4 metros.

     [original: Going to high ground and staying there helped save lives during the 1960 Chilean tsunami, not only in Chile but also in Onagawa, Japan […]. Damaging waves in Onagawa […] reached heights of 14 feet.]

Although maremoto and tsunami are sometimes used as synonyms, maremoto refers to the agitation of seawater due to an underwater earthquake (a seaquake) and tsunami refers to the great waves caused by said phenomenon.^[1]

Both tsunami and sunami are considered correct spellings by the Royal Spanish Academy, but tsunami is preferred and far more common.^[1]

• “tsunami”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Borrowed from English tsunami, from Japanese 津波 (tsunami).

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

tsunami class IX (plural tsunami class X)

1. tsunami (very large and destructive wave)
   • 2023 February 7, “Haya ndio matetemeko matano makubwa zaidi kuwahi kutokea duniani”, in BBC News Swahili‎^[3]:

     Tsunami iliyofuatia tetemeko la ardhi iliathiri nchi 14 za Asia Kusini na Afrika Mashariki.

     The tsunami that followed the earthquake affected 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.

2. tsunami (large and generally unstoppable surge)
   • 2021 December 24, “Habari njema na mbaya kuhusu Omicron zina maana gani kwetu?”, in BBC News Swahili‎^[4]:

     Dunia imepigwa na tsunami ya Omicron.

     The world is hit by an Omicron tsunami.

From Japanese.

• IPA^(key): /(t)sʉːˈnɑːmɪ/, /(t)sɵˈnɑːmɪ/

tsunami c

1. tsunami

   En tsunami är en jättevåg

   A tsunami is a giant wave

• tsunamivåg

• tsunami in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tsunami in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tsunami in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from English tsunami, from Japanese 津波(つなみ) (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃuˈnami/ [t͡ʃʊˈn̪aː.mɪ]
  • IPA^(key): (no palatal assimilation) /tsuˈnami/ [t͡sʊˈn̪aː.mɪ]
• Rhymes: -ami
• Syllabification: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami (Baybayin spelling ᜆ᜔ᜐᜓᜈᜋᜒ)

1. tsunami

• “tsunami”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

• suminta

From Japanese 津波 (tsunami), from 津 (tsu, “harbor”) +‎ 波 (nami, “wave”).

• IPA^(key): /t(u).su.ˈnɑ.mi/
• Hyphenation: tsu‧na‧mi

tsunami (definite accusative tsunamiyi, plural tsunamiler)

1. a tsunami; a very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption