debacle

American  

[day-, -bak-uhl, duh-, dee-bah-kuhl] / deɪ-, -ˈbæk əl, də-, diˈbɑ kəl /

noun

• debacles
  plural

1. a general breakup or dispersion; sudden downfall or rout.

   The revolution ended in a debacle.

2. a complete collapse or failure.

   Synonyms:

   calamity, catastrophe, fiasco, ruin, disaster

3. a breaking up of ice in a river.

4. a violent rush of waters or ice.

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debacle British  

/ deɪˈbɑːkəl, dɪ- /

noun

1. a sudden disastrous collapse or defeat, esp one involving a disorderly retreat; rout

2. the breaking up of ice in a river during spring or summer, often causing flooding

3. a violent rush of water carrying along debris

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• debacles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of debacle

1795–1805; < French débâcle, derivative of débâcler to unbar, clear, equivalent to dé- dis- ¹ + bâcler to bar ≪ Latin baculum stick, rod

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Explanation

Use debacle to refer to a fiasco, disaster, or great failure. If several dogs run onto the field during the big baseball game, tripping players and chewing up the bases, you can call the whole event a debacle. Debacle is sometimes used to describe a military defeat. If your army retreats, that's one thing. If your army is outmaneuvered and ends up huddled in a valley, surrounded on all sides by the enemy, forced to sing 90s sitcom theme songs by their savage captors — that's a debacle. Debacle comes from the French débâcler, "to clear," — the prefix des- means "completely, utterly" and the verb bacler means "to block."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

debacle debacles

Few of those selected for this tournament bear the scars of that encounter, with a youthful and dynamic squad featuring only six of the team from the Sin City debacle.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Whether Iran had the ability to pull off such an attack isn’t clear, but the debacle shows how advances in technology and shifting shape of war are changing age-old tactics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

This debacle is a first-world embarrassment of riches.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Kicker Harrison Mevis replaced Joshua Karty several games after the debacle against the Eagles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

He imagined Trina out there somewhere, being held by the bonfire people, probably even crazier with another day gone and the debacle of the forest fire.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

As the many debacles over inheritances show, it can often get worse as we get older.

From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026

Spy agencies saw profound implications in the recent debacles, far beyond public humiliation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

The debacles “may have repercussions on the financial system more broadly,” warns junk bond guru Marty Fridson, chief executive officer of FridsonVision High Yield Strategy.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

It is with this in mind, that the chancellor will promise the government has learnt the lessons of capital spending debacles, such as HS2.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2025

I do not know what you think, but it appears to me that he exaggerates enormously the influence of debacles or slips and new surface of soil being exposed for the reception of wind-blown seeds.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

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Related Words

• beating
• breakdown
• collapse
• crash
• defeat
• devastation
• disaster
• downfall
• drubbing
• failure
• fiasco
• reversal
• rout
• wreck

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