debacle

noun

de·​ba·​cle dē-ˈbä-kəl 

di-,

-ˈba- 

nonstandard

ˈde-bə-kəl 

variants or less commonly débâcle

dē-ˈbä-kəl 

di-,

-ˈba- 

 also  dā-ˈbäk(lᵊ),

-ˈbä-kəl

 

1

a

: a great disaster

b

: a complete failure : fiasco

2

: a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river

3

: a violent disruption (as of an army) : rout

Did you know?

The Origin of Debacle Is French

If you need an icebreaker in some social setting, why not recount the history of debacle? After all, when it was first used in English, debacle referred to the literal breaking up of ice (such as the kind that occurs in a river after a long, cold winter), as well as to the rush of ice or water that follows such an event. Eventually, it was also used to mean “a violent, destructive flood.” If that’s not enough to make some fast friends, you could let loose the fact that debacle comes from the French noun débâcle, which in turn comes from the verb débâcler, meaning “to clear, unbolt, or unbar.” You might then add, to your listeners’ grateful appreciation, that these uses led naturally to such meanings as “a breaking up,” “collapse,” and finally the familiar “disaster” and “fiasco.” We can feel the silence thawing already.

Synonyms

• apocalypse
• calamity
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• disaster
• tragedy

Examples of debacle in a Sentence

What a debacle. Next thing he knew, one of the patients would turn up dead. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville, 1993

So what had been intended as an orderly hearing ended in a general debacle, for as soon as Fray Domingo saw his protector dragged toward the exit door, he leaped at the guards and began pummeling them. —James A. Michener, Texas, 1985

Savings themselves evaporate in the course of such a debacle and thus the very wherewithal for reversing and retrieving the situation is lost … —Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1984

After the debacle of his first novel, he had trouble getting a publisher for his next book.

the financial debacle that was the stock market crash of 1929

Recent Examples on the Web

This may be the reason for the ongoing Quarter Pounder debacle. —Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024

There may have been a moment, circa 2020-2022, when replacing a person of color or a woman with a White man may have sparked a public relations debacle. —Allison Morrow, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024

By another measure, though, Laughlin’s eugenic advocacy was a historic debacle. —Arthur Caplan, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2024

As illustrated by the recent debacle with the Shein IPO plan, U.S. politicians are quick to summon up imagined threats to American consumers for any company with significant operations in the PRC. —Drew Bernstein, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French débâcle, from débâcler to clear, from Middle French desbacler, from des- de- + bacler to block, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum staff

First Known Use

1802, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

debacle

noun

de·​ba·​cle

variants also débâcle

di-ˈbäk-əl 

-ˈbak-

: a great disaster or complete failure

the army's retreat was a debacle