Meaning
earthquake, quake
- havoc, chaos, uproar
In a sentence
Stanotte c'è stato un terremoto vicino a Napoli.
There was an earthquake near Naples last night.
Hai sentito il terremoto di ieri sera?
Did you feel last night's earthquake?
Con quei bambini in casa è un terremoto.
With those kids at home, it's chaos.
Word forms (2)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| terremoto | masculine · singular |
| terremoti | masculine · plural |
Usage notes
- For the natural disaster, terremoto is standard; sisma is more technical, scientific, or used in news and official reports.
- Use figuratively for major disruption: Ha causato un terremoto politico. In neutral contexts, caos or scompiglio may sound less dramatic.
- With the disaster meaning, Italian often says c'è stato un terremoto or c'è stato il terremoto, not just *un terremoto happened*.