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¹bankrupt

noun bank·rupt \ˈbaŋk-(ˌ)rəpt\

: a person, business, etc., that is unable to pay debts

Full Definition of BANKRUPT

a : a person who has done any of the acts that by law entitle creditors to have his or her estate administered for their benefit

b : a person judicially declared subject to having his or her estate administered under the bankrupt laws for the benefit of creditors

c : a person who becomes insolvent

: a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute <a moral bankrupt>

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Origin of BANKRUPT

modification of Middle French & Old Italian; Middle French banqueroute bankruptcy, from Old Italian bancarotta, from banca bank + rotta broken, from Latin rupta, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere to break — more at bank, reave

First Known Use: 1533

Other Economics Terms

actuary, compound interest, globalization, indemnity, portfolio, rentier, stagflation, usurer

Rhymes with BANKRUPT

abrupt, corrupt, disrupt, erupt, irrupt

²bankrupt

adjective

: unable to pay debts

—used to say that someone or something completely lacks a good or desired quality

Full Definition of BANKRUPT

a : reduced to a state of financial ruin : impoverished; specifically : legally declared a bankrupt <the company went bankrupt>

b : of or relating to bankrupts or bankruptcy <bankrupt laws>

a : broken, ruined <a bankrupt professional career>

b : exhausted of valuable qualities : sterile <a bankrupt old culture>

c : destitute —used with of or in <bankrupt of all merciful feelings>

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First Known Use of BANKRUPT

1566

Related to BANKRUPT

Synonyms: devoid, bare, barren, bereft, destitute, void

Antonyms: filled, flush, fraught, full, replete, rife

Other Economics Terms

actuary, compound interest, globalization, indemnity, portfolio, rentier, stagflation, usurer

³bankrupt

verb

: to cause (a person, business, etc.) to be unable to pay debts : to make (someone or something) bankrupt

Full Definition of BANKRUPT

transitive verb

: to reduce to bankruptcy

: impoverish <defections had bankrupted the party of its brainpower>

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First Known Use of BANKRUPT

1588

Related to BANKRUPT

Synonyms: ruin, break, bust

Synonym Discussion of BANKRUPT

deplete, drain, exhaust, impoverish, bankrupt mean to deprive of something essential to existence or potency. deplete implies a reduction in number or quantity so as to endanger the ability to function <depleting our natural resources>. drain implies a gradual withdrawal and ultimate deprivation of what is necessary to an existence <personal tragedy had drained him of all spirit>. exhaust stresses a complete emptying <her lecture exhausted the subject>. impoverish suggests a deprivation of something essential to richness or productiveness <impoverished soil>. bankrupt suggests impoverishment to the point of imminent collapse <war had bankrupted the nation of resources>.