PRESENTATION OUTLINE
DEFINITION, POS, AND PRONUNCIATION
Definition:
a complete failure
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: fee-'as-ko
SYNONYMS
blunder, breakdown, debacle, disaster, embarrassment, screw up, failure, farce, flap, flop, mess, stunt, washout, abortion, miscarriage, error, route, ruin
ANTONYMS
achievement, acclompishment, success, miracle, triumph, win, wonder, advantage, benefit, blessing, boon
ETYMOLOGY
1855, theater slang for "a failure," by 1862 acquired the general sense of any dismal flop, on or off the stage. Via French phrase fiare fiasco "turn out a failure" (19c.), from Italian far fiasco "suffer a complete breakdown in performance," literally "make a bottle," from fiasco "bottle," from Late Latin flasco, flascone
DERIVATIVES, ROOT, AND AFFIXES
Derivative: fiascoes
Root Word: fiasco
Affixes: none
APPLICATION
Every time the weak boy tried to do a chin-up, it was a complete fiasco.
The woman's presentation was a fiasco; her children had scribbled all over her notepad, and she couldn't read a thing.
The loud children caused a fiasco at the quiet museum.
EXPERT CONNECTION
Fiasco and flop both start with f's, and they are synonyms, and if you did a belly flop off the diving board, it could be a fiasco
