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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “debacle”

“debacle” is pronounced /dəˈbɑkəl/ (duh-BAH-kuhl) in American English and /deɪbɑːkəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”.
The sound

Say “debacle” in 3 beats

Say it like this

debacle

/dəˈbɑkəl/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /deɪbɑːkəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. debdə
  2. acbɑstress
  3. lekəl
IPA (American)
/dəˈbɑkəl/
IPA (British)
/deɪbɑːkəl/
Respelling
duh-BAH-kuhl
Syllables
3 — deb-AC-le
Stress
Stress the second syllable: deb-AC-le. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/dəˈbɑkəl/

British

/deɪbɑːkəl/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “debacle” means

  1. noun

    a sudden and violent collapse

  2. noun

    flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer

  3. noun

    a sound defeat

Say it in a sentence

“The whole opening night was a debacle nobody wants to remember.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ddəschwa×2bbɑahkkll

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“debacle”, answered

How do you pronounce “debacle”?

“debacle” is pronounced /dəˈbɑkəl/ (duh-BAH-kuhl) in American English and /deɪbɑːkəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”. Build it as deb-AC-le, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “debacle” have?

3: deb · ac · le. The beat lands on the second, “ac”.

Is “debacle” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /dəˈbɑkəl/ (duh-BAH-kuhl); British English says /deɪbɑːkəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “debacle” mean?

As a noun: a sudden and violent collapse For example: “The whole opening night was a debacle nobody wants to remember.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “debacle”?

Stress the second syllable: deb-AC-le. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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