fiasco

1 of 2

noun (1)

fi·​as·​co fē-ˈa-(ˌ)skō 

also

-ˈä- 

plural fiascoes

: a complete failure

The critic called the film a fiasco.

… the total fiasco that was his personal life …

—Margaret Atwood

fiasco

2 of 2

noun (2)

fi·​as·​co fē-ˈä-(ˌ)skō  -ˈa- 

plural fiascoes also fiaschi fē-ˈä-(ˌ)skē 

-ˈa-

: bottle, flask

especially : a bulbous long-necked straw-covered bottle for wine

Did you know?

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.

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• disaster
• failure
• catastrophe

Examples of fiasco in a Sentence

Noun (1)

undaunted by his early fiascoes, he continued his experiments in rocketry

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The constant, nearly vindictive string of injuries was the same as last year’s six-win fiasco, but the results were the exact opposite. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2025

But that this fiasco happened at all is a sign of how much Americans’ desire to optimize their rest has grown—along with the market to sate that desire. —Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2025

Ripa shared with the audience a recent airport fiasco when Consuelos' TSA PreCheck was temporarily unavailable. —Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025

Of course, if Jarrett doesn’t make it to Cologne in time, or if Vera can’t find the right piano for him before the curtain goes up, the whole thing could easily turn into a life-defining fiasco. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

French, from Italian, from fare fiasco, literally, to make a bottle

Noun (2)

Italian, from Late Latin flasco bottle — more at flask

First Known Use

Noun (1)

circa 1854, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1887, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fiasco

• casco

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Kids Definition

fiasco

noun

fi·​as·​co

fē-ˈas-kō

plural fiascoes

: a complete failure