# debacle

> English word · Noun · IPA /deɪˈbɑː.kəl/ · frequency rank #22,053

## Definitions
1. An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
2. A breaking up of a natural dam, usually made of ice, by a river and the ensuing rush of water.

## Etymology
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 seems likely due to the lack of attestation of *bakkelen in Middle Dutch and by it having the limited meaning of "freeze superficially" in Dutch.

## Easily confused with
- **debate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debacle-vs-debate)

## Common misspellings (10)
`dbeacle`, `ddebacle`, `deabcle`, `debaccle`, `debacel`, `debaclle`, `debalce`, `debbacle`, `debcale`, `edbacle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/debacle