variants
also débâcle
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loser
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
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Recent Examples of debacle
Property tax debacles Legislators and other panelists were split on how the recall could affect ongoing discourse around property tax valuations in Jackson County.
—
Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
That preceded Sunday night’s debacle, which included his injury.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
The Mustangs had reached the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons before last year’s debacle.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Sep. 2025
News initially broke of the toilet seat debacle when Leno accidentally called Ford while the Indiana Jones star was appearing on the NPR interview podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debacle
Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
That preceded Sunday night’s debacle, which included his injury.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
The Mustangs had reached the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons before last year’s debacle.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Sep. 2025
News initially broke of the toilet seat debacle when Leno accidentally called Ford while the Indiana Jones star was appearing on the NPR interview podcast Wild Card with Rachel Martin.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debacle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debacle
Noun
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In the area of Eaton Fire, the pace of permit approvals is much quicker than before the disaster — an average of 72 days, compared with about eight months previously.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
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The agency is still investigating the disaster and hosted a series of hearings on the matter over the summer.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The loser’s path becomes that much more formidable.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
25 Sep. 2025
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Tech companies, which have relied on H-1Bs for years, could be the biggest losers under the new rules.—
Patricia Lopez,
Mercury News,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The dogs’ owner is facing eight citations of failure to restrain and failure to provide proof of rabies vaccinations, KHOU reported.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Sep. 2025
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Additionally, Tesla is facing an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding a failure to report crash data, says CNN.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Flags typically fly at half-staff after national tragedies or deaths of government officials, military members or other first responders.—
Ridah Syed,
jsonline.com,
27 Sep. 2025
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The gulf between who Nelson really might be and how an aggregate of cultures—Colombian, American, capitalist, masculine—has molded him is the source of the play’s tragedy.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Let’s hope this fiasco is not a preview of what travelers can expect in the future.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Sep. 2025
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Just as social media makes legacy media apparatus look sluggish by comparison, prediction markets expose traditional polls and surveys for being tainted by bias (see the 2016 Clinton fiasco).—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Without warning, calamity descends upon each of their lives.—
Jenny S. Li,
Variety,
20 Sep. 2025
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But the rugged landscape where the North American continent crashes head-long into the Pacific Ocean is in a near-constant state of natural upheaval and calamity.—
Paul Rogers,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Debacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debacle. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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