Question 1 · Quick check
debacle
CEFRC1
/deɪˈbɑː.kəl/
noun
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
noun
A sudden and complete failure.
- 02
noun
Extra detailA breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
Examples
Had I but known what she intended, I might have forestalled this debacle.
What was at first a natural disaster rapidly became a man-made debacle.
At a glance
Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 3
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 5
- Synonyms
- 1
Also pronounced
- /dɛˈbɑː.kəl/
Deep Dive
noun
Extra meaningAn event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
More examples
In contextThe event proved to be a great debacle for the partisans of this prognosticator.
The result is a military approach which maximizes political tensions with Russia […] and lays the ground for a military debacle.
For several months after the debacle just described, the river Dranse, having no settled channel, shifted its position continually […]
Related
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
noun
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 s...