waterloo

waterloo — noun

1. the decisive defeat or failure that permanently ends someone's career, ambitions

1.名詞B2
釋義

the decisive defeat or failure that permanently ends someone's career, ambitions, or efforts, drawing its name from Napoleon's 1815 loss at the Battle of Waterloo.

例句

Senator Walid's primary defeat was his political Waterloo, ending thirty years in Congress.

X's Waterloo = decisive personal defeat

The champion's loss in the final match was a Waterloo that ended her chess career.

同義詞
  • downfall

    more general; does not necessarily imply a permanent or final defeat

  • ruin

    stronger, suggests total destruction of one's prospects or finances

  • nemesis

    focuses on the person or force that causes the defeat rather than the defeat itself

  • crushing defeat

    more literal and direct; lacks the historical metaphor of Waterloo

反義詞

文法句型

X's + Waterloo

[be/become/prove to be] + X's + Waterloo

Waterloo + for + [noun phrase]

用法筆記

Always capitalised as a proper noun, since it derives from the place name Waterloo. The word is typically paired with a possessive determiner (my/your/his/her/its/X's) or used in the pattern 'a Waterloo for [someone]'. The plain uncapitalised spelling 'waterloo' is non-standard.

常見錯誤

❌The project was a waterloo for the team.
✅The project was the team's Waterloo.
💡The word must be capitalised and is typically used with a possessive form.
❌He met his waterloo in the final exam.
✅The final exam was his Waterloo.
💡As a noun, Waterloo refers to the defeat itself; the phrase 'meet one's Waterloo' is a separate idiom (see idioms below).