debtor

noun

debt·​or ˈde-tər 

1

: one guilty of neglect or violation of duty

2

: one who owes a debt

Examples of debtor in a Sentence

The debtor agrees to pay the debt over a three-year period.

Recent Examples on the Web

Turnover orders may require a debtor to transfer certain property interests where permitted by law. — Caroline Farah Lembck, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

The declaration said that the debtor’s principals have contributed around $2 million to the company in the past two and a half years. — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026

Morris went bankrupt, spectacularly, and spent the years 1798 to 1801 incarcerated in a Philadelphia debtors’ prison. — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

Barton then spent almost 15 years of his life as a debtor over a land dispute in Vermont, until the Marquis de Lafayette paid off his debts. — Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 3 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for debtor

• better
• bettor
• fetter
• getter
• letter
• netter
• petter
• rhetor
• setter
• sweater
• tetter
• vetter

Kids Definition

debtor

noun

debt·​or ˈdet-ər 

1

: sinner

2

: one that owes a debt

Legal Definition

debtor

noun

debt·​or

: a person who owes a debt see also bankrupt compare creditor, obligee, obligor

Note: The Bankruptcy Act of 1978 calls the person concerned in a bankruptcy case the “debtor” as opposed to the “bankrupt.”