This year, why not expand your vocabulary one thesaurus section at a time?
Word of the Week: Debacle
How to say it:
Debacle (dey-bah-kuhl, –bak–uhl, duh–)
What it means:
- a general breakup or dispersion;
- sudden downfall or rout: The revolution ended in a debacle.
- a complete collapse or failure.
Where it comes from
Debacle comes from the French noun débâcle, which comes from the verb débâcler,meaning “to clear,” “to unbolt,” or “to unbar.” That verb is from Middle French desbacler, which joined the prefix des- (equivalent to our de-, meaning “to do the opposite of”) with the verb “bacler” (“to block”). In its original uses, “debacle” meant a breaking up of ice, or the rush of ice or water that follows such an occurrence. Eventually, “debacle” was used also to mean “a violent, destructive flood.” Naturally, such uses led to meanings such as “a breaking up,” “collapse,” and finally “disaster” or “fiasco.”
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
The collapse of the company was described as the greatest financial debacle in U.S. history.
Word of the Week: Dilate
How to say it:
Debacle (dahy-leyt, dih-, dahy-leyt)
What it means:
VERB TRANSITIVE
1. to make wider or larger; cause to expand or swell; stretch
VERB INTRANSITIVE
2. to become wider or larger; swell3. to speak or write in detail (on or upon a subject)
Where it comes from
Debacle comes from the French noun débâcle, which comes from the verb débâcler,meaning “to clear,” “to unbolt,” or “to unbar.” That verb is from Middle French Middle English, from Middle French dilater, from Latin dilatare, literally, to spread wide, from dis- + latus wide
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
The drug causes the blood vessels to dilate.
During labor, a woman’s cervix will dilate to about 10 centimeters.
Word of the Week: Dire
How to say it:
Debacle (dahyuhr)
What it means
1. ADJECTIVE
Dire is used to emphasize how serious or terrible a situation or event is.
.2. ADJECTIVE If you describe something as dire, you are emphasizing that it is of very low quality.
Where it comes from
First recorded in 1560–70, dire is from the Latin word dīrus fearful, unlucky
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
The commission predicted that the future would be bleaker and that there would be dire consequences for the state’s economy if sweeping changes were not made.
