Fiasco: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Fiasco noun. A complete and often ridiculous failure.
How to say it
fee-ASS-koh/fɪˈaskəʊ/
3 syllables, stressed on the second (ASS).
Fiasco in a sentence
The launch was a fiasco: the website crashed and the cake fell over.
After last year's fiasco with the bouncy castle, we're keeping the party small.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- disaster
- debacle
- shambles
- flop
Opposite:
- triumph
- success
Where fiasco comes from
Italian for bottle or flask; how it came to mean a failure, perhaps through theatre slang, is unclear.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
After last year's _____ with the bouncy castle, we're keeping the party small.
- fiasco
- tsundoku
- kismet
Show the answer
fiasco: After last year's fiasco with the bouncy castle, we're keeping the party small.