débâcle
French, noun
débâcle is spelled D-É-B-Â-C-L-E (7 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written French, the 24,143rd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Débâcle is a French feminine noun meaning “debacle (break-up of ice dam)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of débâcler. With an accent, débâclé is a different word: “past participle of débâcler”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Rupture, ordinairement subite, de la glace qui couvrait un cours d’eau et qui se partage alors en glaçons…”.
What does débâcle mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininedebacle (break-up of ice dam)
- 2
femininedebacle (fiasco)
- 3
femininethe French defeat in the Battle of France (May–June 1940)
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of débâcler
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Rupture, ordinairement subite, de la glace qui couvrait un cours d’eau et qui se partage alors en glaçons dont la descente est plus ou moins rapide. 2. Tout changement brusque et inattendu qui amène du désordre, de la confusion. 3. Nom donné à la déroute de l'armée française face à l’armée allemande, en mai-juin 1940. 4. Débâclage.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of débâcle
- débâcles plural
- débâclée feminine
- débâclés masculine plural
- débâclées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to débâcle
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is débâcle in French?
débâcle appears 1.5 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).