Dictionary
debacle
noun de·ba·cle \dē-ˈbä-kəl, di-, -ˈba-; ÷ˈde-bə-kəl\
: a great disaster or complete failure
Full Definition of DEBACLE
1
: a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river
2
: a violent disruption (as of an army) : rout
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Variants of DEBACLE
de·ba·cle also dé·bâ·cle \also dā-ˈbäk(lə)\
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Examples of DEBACLE
- 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
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Origin of DEBACLE
French débâcle, from débâcler to clear, from Middle French desbacler, from des- de- + bacler to block, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum staff
First Known Use: 1802
Related to DEBACLE
- Synonyms
- apocalypse, calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster (also débâcle), tragedy
- Antonyms
- blockbuster, hit, smash, success, winner
Rhymes with DEBACLE
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