HOW TO PRONOUNCE
debacle
/dəˈbɑkəl/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:49
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duh-BAH-kuhl: stress BAH.
Begin with a light duh and place the main beat on the second syllable. The final cle has a k sound followed by a light vowel and l; it is not pronounced like clay.
3 syllables · Stress on syllable 2
TRY SAYING
“The newspaper described the event as a debacle.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does debacle mean?
noun
- (figuratively) An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
- A breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/dəˈbɑkəl/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Just as eighteenth century politics and political theories were unable to keep pace with the economic and capitalistic aggressions of the nineteenth century, so also we find, if we look closely enough, that nineteenth century economics is inadequate to lead the world out of the catastrophic situation into which it has been thrown by the debacle of the World War.
Geologists formerly would have brought into play the violent action of some overwhelming debacle; but in this case such a supposition would have been quite inadmissible, because, the same step-like plains with existing sea-shells lying on their surface, which front the long line of the Patagonian coast, sweep up on each side of the valley of Santa Cruz.
More book examples (1)
A preposterous--one may almost say a hideous--social Age is surely drawing to its end, The debacle we are witnessing to-day all over Europe (including the British Islands), the break-up of old institutions, the generally materialistic outlook on life, the coming to the surface of huge masses of diseased and fatuous populations, the scum and dregs created by the past order, all point to the End of a Dispensation.