noun
fiasco
fee-AS-koh/fiˈæskəʊ/
A complete and embarrassing failure.
The event becomes a fiasco as the backdrop collapses among tangled decorations.
Etymology
Italian fiasco meant “bottle,” but far fiasco, literally “make a bottle,” meant to fail in performance. The bottle image is obscure; theatrical failure broadened into any embarrassing flop.
In context
the Bay of Pigs fiasco the failure of 1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA to invade their own country began at the start of his presidency
More examples
- Our dinner party became a fiasco when the oven caught fire.
- The company apologized for the fiasco surrounding its product launch.
- After two public fiascos, the organizers canceled the remaining events.
Forms
fiasco · fiascos · fiascoes