Definition of DEBACLE

The Origin of Debacle Is French

Debacle comes from the French noun débâcle, which comes from the verb débâcler, meaning "to clear," "to unbolt," or "to unbar." That verb is from Middle French desbacler, which joined the prefix des- (equivalent to our de-, meaning "to do the opposite of") with the verb "bacler" ("to block"). In its original uses, "debacle" meant a breaking up of ice, or the rush of ice or water that follows such an occurrence. Eventually, "debacle" was used also to mean "a violent, destructive flood." Naturally, such uses led to meanings such as "a breaking up," "collapse," and finally "disaster" or "fiasco."

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

The Maza/Crowder debacle is just one of the many issues YouTube is currently facing, and struggling to address. — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, "YouTube Continues to Fail Its Queer Creators," 5 June 2019 Fans were up in arms regarding the questionable decision, but the tennis superstar’s own response to the debacle was simple and dignified. — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Serena Williams Defied Catsuit Critics by Wearing a Cape and Co-ord at the French Open," 28 May 2019 The Opal Cliffs debacle is only the most recent settlement enforcing the California Coastal Act. — Dakota Kim, Sunset, "California Has Won Its Fight for Public Access to Beaches. Well, Almost.," 22 Jan. 2018 Labour craves a national election, despite the risk that voters could decide to punish all politicians amid exasperation over the Brexit debacle. — Jill Lawless, The Seattle Times, "Shame, sadness in UK as Brexit reveals Parliament’s flaws," 14 Apr. 2019 Then, accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers spends 1,700 hours on this whole process (and occasionally screws it up, per the Moonlight/La La Land debacle in 2017—but that was less to do with voting and more about the wrong card being read). — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "Can There Be a Tie at the Oscars? Here's How It Would Go Down," 23 Feb. 2019 Well, looks like Starbucks is doing quite a bit more than Race Relations 101 for its employees after that Philadelphia debacle in April; the chain is actually placing a black woman in its leadership ranks. — Angela Helm, The Root, "Mellody Hobson Will Become Starbucks’ No. 2 When Howard Schultz Steps Down," 5 June 2018 That’s how host Jimmy Kimmel ended last year’s Oscars ceremony following the biggest debacle in the show’s 89-year history. — Jake Kring-schreifels, Esquire, "The Best, Worst, and Weirdest Moments of the 2018 Oscars," 5 Mar. 2018 Manufacturers are not installing bad air bags on any cars since the debacle with Takata. — Bob Weber, chicagotribune.com, "New cars offer no good space to store a purse," 2 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debacle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.