bankrupt

noun bank·rupt \ ˈbaŋk-(ˌ)rəpt \

|Updated on: 8 Aug 2018

Definition of bankrupt

1 a : a debtor (such as an individual or an organization) whose property is subject to voluntary or involuntary administration under the bankrupcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors

b : a person who becomes insolvent

2 : a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute

a moral bankrupt

See bankrupt defined for English-language learners

See bankrupt defined for kids

Examples of bankrupt in a Sentence

As a lawyer, she specialized in working with bankrupts.

Recent Examples of bankrupt from the Web

After earning $17 million, the men declared the company bankrupt.

— jacob bernstein, New York Times, "The Great Interview Magazine Caper," 16 June 2018
Tarsila, bankrupt, divorced from de Andrade and increasingly Marxist, would veer into a more politically engaged style.

— jason farago, New York Times, "She Led Latin American Art in a Bold New Direction," 15 Feb. 2018
Alitalia was officially declared bankrupt in May, when staff rejected a restructuring plan.

— stephen wilmot, WSJ, "Airline Dealmaking Won’t Cure Europe’s Profit Problem," 2 Aug. 2017
The business, which went bankrupt in previous incarnations in 2005 and 2009, may still find a way to restructure its debt out of court.

— lauren coleman-lochner, Bloomberg.com, "Winn-Dixie and Tops Owners Are Said to Prepare for Bankruptcy," 17 Feb. 2018
Prior to the label going bankrupt, PolyGram Records purchased 50 percent of Def Jam, and took control of distribution to save the label.

— michael saponara, Billboard, "A Timeline of the Major Events That Defined Def Jam's Legacy in Hip-Hop," 25 Jan. 2018
By Preston Turegano, Staff writer A new era begins today for the once bankrupt and demoralized San Diego Symphony.

— sandiegouniontribune.com, "Record symphony gift," 14 Jan. 2018
The family sold the company in 1968 to Southland Dairy, which went bankrupt in the early 1990s.

— julia terruso, Philly.com, "Kensington's giant milk bottle gets historic designation," 12 Jan. 2018
Power restoration is at a crawl because the grid collapsed, the utility is bankrupt and the logistics are daunting: Crews and supplies have to come from the mainland, then make their way into rugged interior areas like Utuado.

— Washington Post, "Life Without Power," 14 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bankrupt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology 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

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First Known Use: 1638

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Economics Terms

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

bankrupt

adjective

Definition of bankrupt

1 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

2 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

See bankrupt defined for English-language learners

Examples of bankrupt in a Sentence

The lawsuit could leave them bankrupt.
she's a kind soul, but bankrupt of all common sense, I'm afraid

Recent Examples of bankrupt from the Web

Toshiba made the payment to honor a previous commitment to the Vogtle expansion project by its subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Company, which went bankrupt in 2017.

— alex soderstrom, ajc, "Lower Vogtle costs result in $25 credit for Georgia Power customers," 11 July 2018
Profiting from such protectionist measures was a trademark of some of the biggest deals in Mr. Ross’s rise as an investor specializing in reviving and flipping bankrupt or distressed companies, from steel mills to textile factories.

— maureen farrell, WSJ, "Wilbur Ross’s Star Rises as Trump Imposes Tariffs," 9 Mar. 2018
The independent directors of Puerto Rico’s bankrupt public power monopoly resigned Thursday, alleging political interference after top lawmakers and the U.S. territory’s governor demanded cuts to a chief executive compensation package.

— andrew scurria, WSJ, "Puerto Rico Utility Directors Resign, Alleging Political Interference," 12 July 2018
Get our daily newsletter Many utilities are short of cash, if not bankrupt.

— The Economist, "Mini-grids may be the best way to illuminate the “bottom billion”," 12 July 2018
Fox News confirmed in May that Avenatti was under investigation by the California State Bar over allegations related to his stewardship of the bankrupt Tully’s Coffee chain.

— dom calicchio, Fox News, "Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, also represents planned pot farm: report," 28 June 2018
The bankrupt toy retailer is offering steep discounts before closing 735 Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores nationwide, including 65 locations in Texas.

— paul takahashi, Houston Chronicle, "Toys R Us to close all stores Friday, including 18 in Houston area," 25 June 2018
Starting in 2011, Muddy Waters’ Carson Block raised the profile of the new breed of activist shorts by taking aim at under-the-radar Chinese companies listed in North America, including the now bankrupt Sino-Forest Corp.

— Fortune, "Why Short Selling Can Make You Rich But Not Popular," 23 June 2018
Experts say the high rates may be partly due to the relatively high humidity in the Caribbean and the poor state of housing and infrastructure because of Puerto Rico’s high poverty rate and bankrupt government.

— NBC News, "Puerto Rico faces a spike in asthma cases following Hurricane Maria," 18 June 2018

First Known Use of bankrupt

1565

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

bankrupt Synonyms

Other Economics Terms

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

bankrupt

verb

Definition of bankrupt

bankrupted; bankrupting; bankrupts

transitive verb

1 : to reduce to bankruptcy

2 : impoverish

defections had bankrupted the party of its brainpower

See bankrupt defined for English-language learners

Examples of bankrupt in a Sentence

Several risky deals bankrupted the company.
several bad investments bankrupted him

Recent Examples of bankrupt from the Web

That account was created a quarter-century ago so that the agency could build costly new facilities—telescopes, ships, and various types of observatories—without bankrupting its bread-and-butter support for individual investigators.

— jeffrey mervis, Science | AAAS, "U.S. legislators back larger facilities budget for NSF," 18 June 2018
Few of the bishops had legal backgrounds and, not surprisingly, were terrified that the coming legal claims would bankrupt their dioceses.

— james martin, WSJ, "The Missing Link in Sex-Abuse Reform," 20 May 2018
Both schools succumbed to a narrow interest group vote that led the school boards to illegally overspend and bankrupt their system.

— indystar, Indianapolis Star, "Here's why Indiana schools and their communities won at ballot box, writes Michael Hicks," 20 May 2018
Indoctrinated into Kenyan anti-colonialism by his absent father, Obama was trying to bankrupt the U.S. as a means of shifting the balance of global power to the developing world.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Pardons Dinesh D’Souza, in Triumph for Social Justice," 31 May 2018
Try it all out—without bankrupting yourself—and then stick with whatever works for you.

— brennan kilbane, GQ, "The Least Stressful Way to Get Rid of Stress," 16 May 2018
Recently bankrupted retail brand Toys ‘R’ Us is auctioning off its intellectual property as part of efforts to repay creditors, Reuters reports.

— dani deahl, The Verge, "Toys ‘R’ Us is selling off its intellectual assets, including kinky domain names," 15 May 2018
The housing crisis and the Great Recession that followed bankrupted black America.

— jason johnson, The Root, "When White Politicians Profit Off Black Pain and Then Go Begging for Black Votes: Georgia Edition," 9 May 2018
In September 2000, the Keenans won a $6.3 million judgment, bankrupting the Aryan Nations and forcing the group to turn its compound over to the plaintiffs.

— sven berg, idahostatesman, "Hate watchdog SPLC flags small Northwest churches — and rakes in the cash | Idaho Statesman," 22 Apr. 2018

First Known Use of bankrupt

circa 1625

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

bankrupt Synonyms

Synonyms

break, bust, ruin;

Near Antonyms

enrich, richen;

Related Words

beggar, impoverish, pauperize;

reduce, straiten;

clean (out), wipe out;

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

Other Economics Terms

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

BANKRUPT Defined for English Language Learners

bankrupt

noun

Definition of bankrupt for English Language Learners

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

bankrupt

adjective

Definition of bankrupt for English Language Learners

: unable to pay debts
—used to say that someone or something completely lacks a good or desired quality

bankrupt

verb

Definition of bankrupt for English Language Learners

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

BANKRUPT Defined for Kids

bankrupt

adjective bank·rupt \ ˈbaŋk-ˌrəpt \

Definition of bankrupt for Students

: not having enough money to pay debts

bankrupt

verb

Definition of bankrupt for Students

bankrupted; bankrupting

: to cause to not have enough money to pay debts That last risky deal bankrupted the company.

bankrupt

noun

Definition of bankrupt for Students

: a person or business that does not have enough money to pay debts

Law Dictionary

bankrupt

noun bank·rupt \ ˈbaŋ-ˌkrəpt \

legal Definition of bankrupt

: a debtor (as an individual or organization) whose property is subject to administration under the bankruptcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors

was adjudicated a bankrupt

— see also debtor

bankrupt

adjective

legal Definition of bankrupt

: ruined financially; especially : judicially declared a bankrupt

the company is bankrupt

— compare insolvent

bankrupt

transitive verb

legal Definition of bankrupt

: to reduce to bankruptcy

was bankrupted by attorney's fees

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bankrupt

Definition of bankrupt

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bankrupt

Definition of bankrupt

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bankrupt

Definition of bankrupt

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Recent Examples of bankrupt from the Web

First Known Use of bankrupt

bankrupt Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of bankrupt

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bankrupt

Definition of bankrupt for English Language Learners

bankrupt

Definition of bankrupt for English Language Learners

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bankrupt

legal Definition of bankrupt

bankrupt

legal Definition of bankrupt

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