fiasco

[fee-as-koh, -ah-skoh]

noun

plural

fiascos, fiascoes 

1. a complete and ignominious failure.

   Synonyms: bomb, flop, debacle, catastrophe, disaster

2. a round-bottomed glass flask for wine, especially Chianti, fitted with a woven, protective raffia basket that also enables the bottle to stand upright.

fiasco

/ fɪˈæskəʊ /

noun

1. a complete failure, esp one that is ignominious or humiliating

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiasco¹

1850–55; < Italian: literally, bottle < Germanic ( flask ¹ ); sense “failure” from Italian phrase far fiasco to fail, literally, to make a bottle, idiom of uncertain origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiasco¹

C19: from Italian, literally: _flask ; sense development obscure

Example Sentences

The most recent fiasco came on Wednesday night, when Liverpool lost 4-1 at home in the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“This whole incident has been a fiasco and a blemish on our country. He needs to be fired,” he added.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As media implosions go, it doesn’t get much worse than the fiasco engulfing the British Broadcasting Corp.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This fiasco will continue to dog the royal family, says historian and author Andrew Lownie.

Read more on BBC

Langbroek said education officials were looking at ways to ensure the fiasco did not ruin the students' grades.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• blunder 
• breakdown 
• debacle 
• disaster 
• embarrassment 
• failure 
• farce 
• flap 
• flop 
• mess 
• stunt 
• washout