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

Famous Name: Elvis Presley plaque is coming back to Indianapolis on 41st anniversary of final concert So what was the Secret Service doing during this debacle, that the 64-year-old president had to step in and play Mr. Incredible? — Sarah Bahr, Indianapolis Star, "IndyStar cartoonist Gary Varvel illustrates Benjamin Harrison book," 3 July 2018 The White House went all-in for the governor in recent days, dispatching the president and the vice president to the state in an effort to prevent a political debacle. — Time, "Henry McMaster, Backed by President Trump, Wins South Carolina Governor Primary," 28 June 2018 The White House went all-in for the governor in recent days, dispatching the president and the vice president to the state in an effort to prevent a political debacle. — Meg Kinnard, The Seattle Times, "Trump-backed McMaster wins South Carolina governor primary," 26 June 2018 Chastened by a 2014 debacle when an expansion plan was vehemently opposed by the public, the museum... — Julie V. Iovine, WSJ, "A Design for the Frick Forgoes Flash," 6 June 2018 United’s board last year reversed a plan for Munoz to add the chairman’s role in 2018, following a public-relations debacle when a passenger being dragged off a plane. — Fortune, "United Names First Woman As Board Chair—A Job That Was Supposed to Go to Its Embattled CEO," 25 May 2018 But nobody expected a debacle from Farhadi, the Iranian director who in this decade has already won two best foreign language film Oscars, for A Separation (by far his greatest film) and The Salesman. — John Powers, Vogue, "At Cannes 2018, Life After Netflix—And the Selfie Ban," 9 May 2018 Yates suffered two losses, the first of which was a six-run debacle in one-third of an inning to start the road trip. — Jeff Sanders, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres still feeling out their remade bullpen," 14 Aug. 2017 But the linguistic perspective on this whole debacle is that everyone is right. — Rachel Gutman, The Atlantic, "A Linguist Explains Why 'Laurel' Sounds Like 'Yanny'," 15 May 2018

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.