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

Suggestions are made that a debtor can simply take loans from the LLC or, as Campbell did here, have credit card payments made and the like. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026

More than a half-million Floridians meet the legal definition of being in default, according to Protect Borrowers, a debtor advocacy organization that analyzed federal student loan data. —Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2026

After all, there's little point in winning a court case if the debtor has no assets or income to collect against. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 15 Jan. 2026

Financing deal The new financing deal would provide an immediate cash infusion of $1 billion through ‌a debtor-in-possession loan from an investor group, Saks Global said. —Dietrich Knauth, USA Today, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for debtor

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

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.”