variants
also débâcles
1
as in disasters
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 failures
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of debacles
The one tiny potential upside of the populist movement was its apparent reluctance to plunge the nation into foreign debacles.
—
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 6 Mar. 2026
From shocking district alignments to puzzling travel debacles, many coaches were left shaking their heads in disbelief.
—Greg Riddle, Dallas Morning News, 3 Feb. 2026
Several similar debacles have plagued the team over the last six years, but this one may just take the cake.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 12 Jan. 2026
After the Utah and Arizona debacles, CU fans have been looking for a reason to stay invested.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 8 Nov. 2025
The concept was so sticky and compelling, though, that others started mining histories of notorious debacles for more examples of the same.
—David Merritt Johns, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025
Those debacles not only angered voters but showed to the bond markets that Labour would struggle to shore up Britain’s public finances.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Japan is also looking at political uncertainty as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to step down, following electoral debacles that saw the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lose its majority in both the lower and upper houses of parliament.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2025
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
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 6 Mar. 2026
From shocking district alignments to puzzling travel debacles, many coaches were left shaking their heads in disbelief.
—Greg Riddle, Dallas Morning News, 3 Feb. 2026
Several similar debacles have plagued the team over the last six years, but this one may just take the cake.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 12 Jan. 2026
After the Utah and Arizona debacles, CU fans have been looking for a reason to stay invested.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 8 Nov. 2025
The concept was so sticky and compelling, though, that others started mining histories of notorious debacles for more examples of the same.
—David Merritt Johns, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025
Those debacles not only angered voters but showed to the bond markets that Labour would struggle to shore up Britain’s public finances.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Japan is also looking at political uncertainty as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to step down, following electoral debacles that saw the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lose its majority in both the lower and upper houses of parliament.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debacles
Noun
-
Five worst nuclear reactor disasters 1.—
Kurt Snibbe,
Oc Register,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Satellite connectivity can act as a backup during disasters like hurricanes or wildfires.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Yet, these authors and their peers such as Naomi Schaefer Riley continually shrink this extraordinarily complex problem to outcomes only — framing broken families in deeply dark narratives of horror, highlighting failures and demanding accountability.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Johnson said the failures cost Stephen Nolte his life.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There has been no lesson learned and inadequate spending on infrastructure improvements, which would help prevent future catastrophes.—
Kristine Alessio,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2026
-
At the center of that calculation is the Disaster Relief Fund, FEMA's primary account for responding to catastrophes.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Have there been any disappointments?—
Caroline Mimbs Nyce,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Mirroring the changing trends of the time, the Puente albums were commercial disappointments.—
Ernesto Lechner,
Rolling Stone,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Recent horrific tragedies have demonstrated the urgent need to improve Cook County’s process for enforcing warrants, too.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Less known, and more uncomfortable, is how some Democrats tend to go silent on the role that demonization from the left can play in these tragedies too.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, the surrealist musical follows one nuclear family across thousands of years and three apocalypses.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
10 Dec. 2025
-
And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
For certain great artists, Meis believes, the creative act is a safe harbor where life’s pressures, exigencies, and calamities aren’t so much denied or resolved as reimagined as pictorial dramas.—
Jed Perl,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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Colorado went 43-119, a record that belongs in a museum exhibit beside other modern-era calamities, behind glass.—
Jenny Catlin,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debacles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debacles. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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