fiasco

[ fee-as-koh -ah-skoh ]

noun

, plural fi·as·cos, fi·as·coes.

1. a complete and ignominious failure.

   Synonyms: bomb, flop, debacle, catastrophe, disaster

2. a round-bottomed glass flask for wine, especially Chianti, fitted with a woven, protective raffia basket that also enables the bottle to stand upright.

fiasco

/ fɪˈæskəʊ /

noun

1. a complete failure, esp one that is ignominious or humiliating

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiasco¹

1850–55; < Italian: literally, bottle < Germanic ( flask ¹ ); sense “failure” from Italian phrase far fiasco to fail, literally, to make a bottle, idiom of uncertain origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiasco¹

C19: from Italian, literally: flask ; sense development obscure

Example Sentences

The original Florida production turned into a fiasco.

From Los Angeles Times

Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year after an all-you-can-eat shrimp fiasco contributed to financial losses; Rubio’s Coastal Grill did the same following the abrupt closure of 48 locations in California.

From Los Angeles Times

Australian media have described it as a "fiasco" and "debacle" while opposition leader Dean Winter called it the "biggest infrastructure stuff-up" in the state's history.

From BBC

But make no mistake: this was a serious mis-step, and he accepted full responsibility for the shapeless fiasco that unfolded at Wembley.

From BBC

They describe the episode as a public relations fiasco that at one point had tied Ohtani himself — falsely, prosecutors say — to payments made in the bookmaking underworld.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blunder
• breakdown
• debacle
• disaster
• embarrassment
• failure
• farce
• flap
• flop
• mess
• stunt
• washout