kablooie
kablooie Lexical Profile
kablooie Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
North American Broken, ruined, or completely failed, typically used after the verb "go" to indicate a sudden breakdown or collapse.
"Our carefully planned weekend itinerary went kablooie when a sudden snowstorm closed the mountain pass."
• interjection
North American Used to imitate the sound of a sudden, loud explosion, crash, or catastrophic collapse.
"He connected the wrong wires on the prototype and—kablooie!—the entire circuit board shorted out in a puff of smoke."
• adverb
North American Into a state of sudden ruin, collapse, or explosive failure.
"The entire computer network went kablooie right in the middle of the afternoon presentation."
• noun
North American A sudden, violent explosion, crash, or complete collapse.
"The old boiler made a loud kablooie before shutting down for good."
Word Nuance & Usage
Also commonly spelled "kablooey," this informal expression is most frequently paired with the verb "go" in the idiomatic phrase "go kablooie" to describe a sudden breakdown, failure, or explosion.
• Rhymes for kablooie
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in early 20th-century American slang as an expressive, onomatopoeic word mimicking the sound of a violent explosion or sudden collapse, formed with the intensive prefix "ka-".
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.