Margaret Atwood
-ˈa-
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English speakers picked up fiasco from the French, who in turn adopted it from the Italian phrase fare fiasco—literally, "to make a bottle." Just what prompted the development of the meaning "failure" from "bottle" has remained obscure. One guess is that when a Venetian glassblower would discover a flaw developing in a beautiful piece they were working on, they would turn it into an ordinary bottle to avoid having to destroy the object. The bottle would naturally represent a failure to the glassblower, whose would-be work of art was downgraded to everyday glassware. This theory, however, remains unsubstantiated.
Examples of fiasco in a Sentence
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 3 Feb. 2026
There are also times — like in Usher’s roller skating fiasco — when talent might want extra time to rehearse certain moments of the show.
—Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
The fiasco was the story of Salt Lake City and made Salé and Pelletier overnight celebrities.
—Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 3 Feb. 2026
After the Lake Shore Drive fiasco during the blizzard, then-Mayor Daley went underground and let his department heads take the heat.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 2 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fiasco
Cite this Entry
“Fiasco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiasco. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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