From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdebaclede‧ba‧cle, débâcle /deɪˈbɑːkəl, dɪ-/ noun [countable] FAILan event or situation that is a complete failure the debacle of the 1994 elections
Examples from the Corpus
debacle• But remember what happened in the 1994 bond debacle.• A political debacle laid the groundwork for progress.• The debacle began shortly after we arrived for dinner one night.• The glum symptoms range from junk-bond distress to the destruction of wealth caused by falling property values and the thrifts debacle.Origin debacle (1800-1900) French débâcle, from débâcler “to remove a bar” 