Dictionary

debacle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /deɪˈbɑː.kəl/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /deɪˈbɑ.kəl/ (US)
• /dɪˈbɑ.kəl/ (US)
• /dɛˈbɑː.kəl/ (UK)
• /dəˈbɑ.kəl/ (US)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From French débâcle, from débâcler (“to unbar; unleash”) from prefix dé- (“un-”) + bâcler (“to dash, bind, bar, block”) [perhaps from unattested Middle French and Old French *bâcler, *bacler (“to hold in place, prop a door or window open”)], from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum (“rod, staff used for support”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-. Also attested in Old French desbacler (“to clear a harbour by getting ships unloaded to make room for incoming ships with lading”) and in Occitan baclar (“to close”). The hypothesised derivation from Middle Dutch *bakkelen (“to freeze artificially, lock in place”), a frequentative of bakken (“to stick, stick hard, glue together”) no longer seems likely due to the lack of attestation of *bakkelen in Middle Dutch and by it having the limited meaning of "freeze superficially" in Dutch.

Meanings

1. (figuratively) An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
   • The event proved to be a great debacle for the partisans of this prognosticator. 1952, Boaz Cohen, Epistle to Yemen, translation of original by Maimonides, page 5:
   • The BP Prudhoe Bay debacle [the Prudhoe Bay oil spill] thus provides but the latest in a long line of reasons why leasing this region of the NPR-A is a bad idea. 2007, “Statement by Peter Van Tuyn”, in BP pipeline failure: hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, page 46:
   • The result is a military approach which maximizes political tensions with Russia […] and lays the ground for a military debacle. 1996, Richard L. Canby, “SOF: An Alternative Perspective on Doctrine”, in Schultz et al, editor, Roles And Missions of SOF In The Aftermath Of The Cold War, page 188:
2. A breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
   • For several months after the debacle just described, the river Dranse, having no settled channel, shifted its position continually […] 1837, John Lee Comstock, Outlines of Geology, page 51:
   • When this débâcle commences […], the masses of ice, drifting with the current and unable to pass, are hurled upon those already soldered together; thus an enormous barrier is formed […] 1872, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, page 425:
   • […] so that in extreme cases the latter may even be dammed up for a time, and a debacle be the consequence, when the main river overcomes the resistance opposed to it, […] 1836, Henry De La Beche, How to Observe: Geology, page 69:

Forms

Synonyms

fiasco

Translations (44)

grc διατροπή (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · mi hanepītanga (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fr débâcle (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · es debacle (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · nl debacle (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · cs debakl (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · pt fiasco (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fi laukeaminen (break up of a natural dam) · hu összeomlás (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · ru ледохо́д (break up of a natural dam) · ar فَشَل ذَرِيْع (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · hu bukás (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · eo fuŝafero (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · eo fiasko (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · sv debacle (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · it frantumazione (break up of a natural dam) · ru фиа́ско (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fi epäonnistuminen (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · uk скресання (break up of a natural dam) · ru вскры́тие реки́ (break up of a natural dam) · pl obsuwa (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fi fiasko (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · nn isgang (break up of a natural dam) · uk фіаско (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · nl verplettering (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · tr hezimet (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fr débâcle (break up of a natural dam) · es desastre (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · hu fiaskó (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · ru прова́л (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · ar كارِثة (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · hu kudarc (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · tr fiyasko (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · fr fiasco (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · lv izgāšanās (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · ja 大失敗 (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · uk крах (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · hu összeroppanás (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · de Debakel (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · nb isgang (break up of a natural dam) · nl fiasco (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · uk катастрофа (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · it fiasco (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously) · pl wtopa (event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously)