How is the word ‘debacle’ pronounced?
(H. R. Shiva Prasad, Salem)
The first syllable ‘de’ is pronounced like the word ‘day’. The following ‘a’ is like the ‘a’ in ‘bath’, ‘path’, and ‘ask’, and the final ‘cle’ is like the ‘ckle’ in ‘tackle’, ‘buckle’ and ‘pickle’. The word is pronounced ‘dayBAAkl’ with the stress on the second syllable. This is one way of pronouncing the word. When you say that something was a debacle, what you mean is that it was a total disaster. It was a fiasco. This is just one of the meanings of the word.
*Keshav’s first performance as a stand-up comedian was a debacle: the audience kept booing him.
