Word.ws English Dictionary

debacles

debacles is the plural of debacle.

Meaning of debacle

Noun

debacle (plural debacles)

  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
    Synonyms:
    fiasco
  2. A breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
    • […] 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

Questions about debacles

What is debacles the plural of?
Debacles is the plural of debacle.

Words near debacles in the dictionary

  1. debacchation
  2. debacchations
  3. DeBacker
  4. DeBackers
  5. debacle
  6. debacles
  7. debacular
  8. debadge
  9. debadged
  10. debadges
  11. debadging

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: debacles (page history and authors); debacle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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