Meanings
plural debacles · alternative débâcle · alternative debâcle · alternative débacle
- figurativelyAn event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.First known use early 19th c.
The event proved to be a great debacle for the partisans of this prognosticator.
1952, Boaz Cohen, Epistle to Yemen, translation of original by Maimonides, page 52 more examples
The result is a military approach which maximizes political tensions with Russia […] and lays the ground for a military debacle.
1996, Richard L. Canby, “SOF: An Alternative Perspective on Doctrine”, in Schultz et al, editor, Roles And Missions of SOF In The Aftermath Of The Cold War, page 188The BP Prudhoe Bay debacle [the Prudhoe Bay oil spill] thus provides but the latest in a long line of reasons why leasing this region of the NPR-A is a bad idea.
2007, “Statement by Peter Van Tuyn”, in BP pipeline failure: hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, page 46Synonyms: fiasco
- geographyA breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
For several months after the debacle just described, the river Dranse, having no settled channel, shifted its position continually […]
1837, John Lee Comstock, Outlines of Geology, page 512 more examples
[…] so that in extreme cases the latter may even be dammed up for a time, and a debacle be the consequence, when the main river overcomes the resistance opposed to it, […]
1836, Henry De La Beche, How to Observe: Geology, page 69When this débâcle commences […], the masses of ice, drifting with the current and unable to pass, are hurled upon those already soldered together; thus an enormous barrier is formed […]
1872, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, page 425
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bak-
- Latinbaculum“rod, staff used for support”
- Vulgar Latin*bacculare
- Frenchdébâcle
- Englishdebacle
From French débâcle, from débâcler (“to unbar; unleash”) from prefix dé- (“un-”) + bâcler (“to dash, bind, bar, block”) [perhaps from unattested Middle French and Old French *bâcler, *bacler (“to hold in place, prop a door or window open”)], from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum (“rod, staff used for support”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-. Also attested in Old French desbacler (“to clear a harbour by getting ships unloaded to make room for incoming ships with lading”) and in Occitan baclar (“to close”). The hypothesised derivation from Middle Dutch *bakkelen (“to freeze artificially, lock in place”), a frequentative of bakken (“to stick, stick hard, glue together”) no longer seems likely due to the lack of attestation of *bakkelen in Middle Dutch and by it having the limited meaning of "freeze superficially" in Dutch.
More words from French, Vulgar Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek διατροπή
- διατροπή (diatropḗ)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Arabic فَشَل ذَرِيع, كارِثة
- فَشَل ذَرِيع (fašal ḏarīʕ)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- كارِثة (kāriṯa)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Czech debakl
- debaklevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Dutch verplettering, fiasco
- verpletteringevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- fiascoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- debacleevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Esperanto fiasko, fuŝafero
- fiaskoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- fuŝaferoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Finnish fiasko, epäonnistuminen
- fiaskoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- epäonnistuminenevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- laukeaminenbreak up of a natural dam
French fiasco, débâcle
- fiascoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- débâcleevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- débâclebreak up of a natural dam
German Debakel
- Debakelevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Hungarian fiaskó, kudarc
- fiaskóevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- kudarcevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- bukásevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- összeomlásevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- összeroppanásevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Italian fiasco, frantumazione
- fiascoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- frantumazionebreak up of a natural dam
Japanese 大失敗
- 大失敗 (daishippai)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Latvian izgāšanās
- izgāšanāsevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Māori hanepītanga
- hanepītangaevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Norwegian Bokmål isgang
- isgangbreak up of a natural dam
Polish obsuwa, wtopa
- obsuwaevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- wtopaevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Portuguese fiasco
- fiascoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Russian фиа́ско, прова́л
- фиа́ско (fiásko)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- прова́л (provál)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- ледохо́д (ledoxód)break up of a natural dam
- вскры́тие реки́ (vskrýtije rekí)break up of a natural dam
Spanish debacle, desastre
- debacleevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- desastreevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Swedish debacle
- debacleevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Turkish hezimet, fiyasko
- hezimetevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- fiyaskoevent or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
Ukrainian крах, фіаско
- крах (krax)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- фіаско (fiasko)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- катастрофа (katastrofa)event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously
- скресання (skresannja)break up of a natural dam
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with debacle
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
debacle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debacle
“debacle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debacle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “debacle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debacle.
Source: debacle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.