delinquent

noun

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de·lin·quent | \ di-ˈliŋ-kwənt

, -ˈlin- \

Definition of delinquent

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a usually young person who regularly performs illegal or immoral acts

delinquent

adjective

Definition of delinquent (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : offending by neglect or violation of duty or of law … were clearly delinquent in not immediately alerting Western Europe to the accident …— Richard Wilson

2 : being overdue in payment a delinquent charge account … efforts to crack down on parents delinquent in child-support payments …— Todd S. Purdum

3 : of, relating to, or characteristic of people who regularly perform illegal or immoral acts : marked by delinquency (see delinquency sense 1b) delinquent behavior

Other Words from delinquent Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about delinquent

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Examples of delinquent in a Sentence

Noun a group of violent delinquents Adjective a school for delinquent children His delinquent behavior could lead to more serious problems. The town is trying to collect delinquent taxes.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun DeVos has also authorized an automatic suspension of payments for any borrower more than 31 days delinquent as of March 13, 2020, or who becomes more than 31 days delinquent. — Eric Stirgus, ajc, "Trump suspends federal student loan payments for 60 days," 20 Mar. 2020 County records say 32,000 Detroit properties are tax delinquent, suggest that 25,500 are occupied and that roughly 8,300 are designated occupied and likely to be foreclosed. — Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press, "Whitmer bans tax foreclosures statewide during coronavirus threat," 18 Mar. 2020 The sports minister of the new government, who had helped with the demolition, told reporters afterward that stadiums shouldn’t be named for delinquents. — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, "The Fall of Evo Morales," 16 Mar. 2020 Disney Villainous The indisputable board game of the year is this deliciously addictive role-player starring iconic Disney delinquents like Ursula, Jafar, and Captain Hook. — Marc Snetiker, EW.com, "EW's 2019 holiday gift guide," 20 Nov. 2019 Lewis noted earlier that one big reason why lot consolidation is required is because separate side lot parcels are the first to go tax delinquent. — Thomas Jewell, cleveland, "Shaker Heights revamps city side lot program, to be rolled out in late spring," 25 Feb. 2020 More than 1 out of 10 students were 90 days delinquent in paying their student loans or were in default at the end of 2019. — Jay Heflin, Washington Examiner, "Household debt sets new record of $14.1 trillion," 11 Feb. 2020 The revelries were followed by a wave of nationwide looting and vandalism as his supporters reacted with rage to his ouster and delinquents exploited the chaos. — Anatoly Kurmanaev, New York Times, "How an Unknown Female Senator Came to Replace the Bolivian Strongman Evo Morales," 24 Nov. 2019 Forced to tutor students at a school, a young delinquent falls for a minister’s daughter. — Los Angeles Times, "Movies on TV this week: Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019," 22 Sep. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective The first-quarter report also showed the number of delinquent loans in its portfolio has risen. — Houston Chronicle, "BBVA USA income tanks as brand loses value," 30 Apr. 2020 But reports quickly surfaced that some of these payments were being redirected to banks and private debt collectors from people who have overdraft fees, delinquent loans, or other debt obligations. — Renae Merle, Washington Post, "Amid bipartisan criticism, Treasury Department attorneys review bank seizures of $1,200 stimulus checks," 20 Apr. 2020 While the delinquent-loan rates aren’t at alarming levels, the... — Xie Yu, WSJ, "China Offers Early Test of Bonds Backed by Consumer Loans," 17 Apr. 2020 The legislation also suspends efforts such as wage garnishment and tax refund reductions to collect on delinquent student loans. — Crystal Hill, Indianapolis Star, "Here's how the $2 trillion federal stimulus will help Hoosiers," 27 Mar. 2020 Sometimes, though, people who have old, now delinquent student loans are a bit shocked to see their tax refund go to pay down that debt. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "4 reasons your tax refund won't reach your bank account," 19 Feb. 2020 Tax collectors don’t have to record a lien on secured property such as real estate, because if a property is sold, delinquent taxes are paid first, Arnott said. — Kathleen Pender, SFChronicle.com, "Newsom’s property-tax relief extends way past what counties requested or expected," 7 May 2020 This story has been corrected to reflect that non-delinquent taxpayers who use EasyPay will continue to see payments withdrawn as normal from their bank accounts. — Courtney Astolfi, cleveland, "Cuyahoga County suspends new foreclosures and defaults on delinquent property tax payments for at least 60 days," 19 Mar. 2020 And the Senate is pushing legislation to pay a contingency fee on collections to companies using data analytics to go after delinquent taxpayers. — James Salzer, ajc, "Georgia House may go after ‘double deduction’ some get when they file income tax returns," 6 Mar. 2020

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

History and Etymology for delinquent

Noun

earlier, "person failing in a duty, offender," borrowed from Middle French delinquant, noun derivative from present participle of delinquer "to commit an offense," borrowed from Latin dēlinquere "to be lacking, fall short of an approved standard, misbehave, commit (an offense)" — more at delinquent entry 2

Adjective

borrowed from Latin dēlinquent-, dēlinquens, present participle of dēlinquere "to be lacking, fall short of an approved standard, misbehave, commit (an offense)," from dē- de- + linquō, linquere (perfect līquī) "to go away from, leave, leave behind, abandon, desist from," going back to Indo-European *li-n-kw-/*li-né-kw- "leaves behind" (whence also Sanskrit riṇákti "[s/he] leaves behind," Avestan irinaxti, Old Irish léicid "[s/he] lets go, leaves behind"), ar-léici "[s/he] lets go, releases, lends," present tense derivative from the base *lei̯kw- "leave behind, distance oneself from," whence also, with varying ablaut, Greek leípō, leípein (aorist élipon) "to leave, quit, be missing," Armenian likʼ "(s/he) left, let go," Old Prussian polāikt "to remain," Lithuanian liekù, lìkti, Germanic *līhwan- "to grant, lend" (whence Old English lēon "to lend, grant," Old Saxon farlīhan, Old High German līhan, Old Norse ljá, Gothic leihwan "to lend")

Note: The specialization of sense in Germanic (from "leave behind" to "lend") is distinctive and has been variously explained. Attention has been drawn to the derivative *laihna- "something lent," perhaps from "something left as a legacy," with apparent counterparts in Indo-Iranian (see loan entry 1), and it has been argued that the noun's influence has restricted the meaning of the verb (see Antoine Meillet, "Sur le suffixe indo-européen *-nes-," Mémoires de la Société Linguistique de Paris, tome 15 [1908-09], pp. 254-56).

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