What does 沈没 mean?
沈没 is a Japanese noun meaning “sinking, foundering” in English. It can also be translated as “getting dead drunk, having too much fun (esp. in a red-light district, etc.) and missing work or neglecting one's duties, staying in one place for a long time” depending on context. It is written as 沈没 in kanji, ちんぼつ in hiragana, and chinbotsu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N1 vocabulary.
Example sentence
彼らは沈没する船を見捨てた。
They abandoned the sinking ship.