debacle

noun

dē-ˈbä-kəl How to pronounce debacle (audio)
variants also débâcle
Definition of debaclenext
1
as in disaster
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction the financial debacle that was the stock market crash of 1929

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2
as in failure
something that has failed the movie, which some had predicted would be a blockbuster, turned out to be the summer's biggest debacle at the multiplexes

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of debacle Mahtani said the Situational Awareness debacle reflected poor risk management, but that its broader impact had been largely contained. — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2026 Compared to the multibillion-dollar budgets of other DOD projects, the financial cost of the Texas debacle is small. — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026 Before the jazz debacle, Ludlow was best known as a former City Council member who pleaded guilty in 2006 to federal charges of conspiring to embezzle union funds for campaign costs. — David K. Li, NBC news, 10 Aug. 2026 Neither person wants to compromise and yet both of you could be exhausted by the entire debacle. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for debacle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debacle
  1. disaster
  2. failure
  3. catastrophe
  4. fiasco
  5. tragedy
  6. apocalypse
Noun
  • The baby’s father, Andres Garcia, survived the boat disaster, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Rescuers continued recovering bodies from the artisanal mining site in Zamboye, near the border with Cameroon, but local workers said the response lacked the equipment and expertise needed for a disaster of such scale.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of disaster
Noun
  • The failure by American and Canadian trade negotiators to reach a deal came after nearly two weeks of furious talks.
    — Steve Kopack, NBC news, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Ultimately Keegan’s team fell short, but this was no failure.
    — Michael Walker, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of failure
Noun
  • That tension between catastrophe for humanity and recovery for nature runs all the way to the ending.
    — Solitaire Townsend, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The first step in averting this spiral toward catastrophe is for both Beijing and Washington to bear in mind that these economic tools were not designed as weapons.
    — GLORIA XIONG, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • Though the reason for Marte’s initial absence remains unknown publicly — the Diamondbacks were so blindsided by it that he was scratched only minutes before Monday’s game — the team seemed eager to move on from the fiasco.
    — Marc Carig, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Legal disputes and financial chaos have made the LAX people mover a construction fiasco, raising doubts about when it will ever be finished.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of fiasco
Noun
  • At first, its plea to remain somewhere in an old lover’s life can feel like the whole tragedy.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Boeing has admitted fault in these tragedies, attributing the cause of the crashes to a flawed Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of tragedy
Noun
  • The Bronx spans several blocks of Calle 56 and looks like a junkyard apocalypse.
    — Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Worried about the dog in the sci-fi apocalypse thriller The End of Oak Street?
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of apocalypse

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Cite this Entry

“Debacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debacle. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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