debacle

de·ba·cle

noun \dē-ˈbä-kəl, di-, -ˈba-; ÷ˈde-bə-kəl\

Definition of DEBACLE

1

: a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river

2

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

3

a : a great disaster

b : a complete failure : fiasco

Variants of DEBACLE

de·ba·cle also dé·bâ·cle \also dā-ˈbäk(l^ə)\

Examples of DEBACLE

1. After the debacle of his first novel, he had trouble getting a publisher for his next book.
2. <the financial debacle that was the stock market crash of 1929>
3. What a debacle. Next thing he knew, one of the patients would turn up dead. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville, 1993
4. 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
5. 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

Origin of DEBACLE

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

Related to DEBACLE

Synonyms

apocalypse, calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster (also débâcle), tragedy

Antonyms

blockbuster, hit, smash, success, winner

Related Words

bloodbath, collapse, crash, meltdown; Armageddon, doomsday, end-time; convulsion, paroxysm, upheaval; accident, casualty, fatality; misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap; blast, blow, double whammy, one-two (or one-two punch)

Near Antonyms

godsend, manna, windfall

Rhymes with DEBACLE

gang-tackle, ramshackle, unshackle