Margaret Atwood
-ˈa-
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English speakers picked up fiasco from the French, who in turn adopted it from the Italian phrase fare fiasco—literally, "to make a bottle." Just what prompted the development of the meaning "failure" from "bottle" has remained obscure. One guess is that when a Venetian glassblower would discover a flaw developing in a beautiful piece they were working on, they would turn it into an ordinary bottle to avoid having to destroy the object. The bottle would naturally represent a failure to the glassblower, whose would-be work of art was downgraded to everyday glassware. This theory, however, remains unsubstantiated.
Examples of fiasco in a Sentence
David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 12 July 2025
Please stop the madness and return to the layout used prior to this fiasco.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 July 2025
While this week's fiasco marks a rocky start, the push for flights to Italy is going ahead on multiple fronts.
—Charna Flam, People.com, 30 May 2025
This was a fiasco, although, from a promotional perspective, not necessarily a disaster.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiasco
Cite this Entry
“Fiasco.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiasco. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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