junk bond

noun

: a high-risk bond that offers a high yield

Examples of junk bond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The state’s credit rating has been upgraded nine times during Pritzker’s tenure, from a low point of being one step above junk bond status. Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 24 June 2025 To buy Neiman’s last year and transform the business, Saks sold $2.2 billion of junk bonds — upsizing from an initial $2 billion given interest in the market. Evan Clark, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019 High yield corporate bonds, often called junk bonds, are issued by companies with weaker credit ratings that are theoretically more at risk of suffering losses in bankruptcy. Jesse Pound, CNBC, 17 June 2025 Bondholders, meanwhile, have soured on debt the company raised just six months ago, trading some of the $2.2 billion in junk bonds used to fund the Neiman’s acquisition down to as low as 38 cents on the dollar. Evan Clark, Footwear News, 28 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for junk bond

Word History

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of junk bond was in 1974

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Cite this Entry

“Junk bond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junk%20bond. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.

Legal Definition

junk bond

see bond sense 2

More from Merriam-Webster on junk bond

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