creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkre-di-tər 

-ˌtȯr

: one to whom a debt is owed

especially : a person to whom money or goods are due

Examples of creditor in a Sentence

She owes thousands of dollars to creditors.

Recent Examples on the Web

One option is debt settlement, which involves negotiating with creditors on a settlement amount that's less than the full amount owed. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 11 June 2026

The report said that some creditors had raised concerns about lending to SoftBank based on the valuation of an unlisted company. —Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026

SoftBank scaled back plans for a $10 billion margin loan backed by the OpenAI stake after facing hesitation from some creditors, Bloomberg reported. —Benoit Berthelot, Fortune, 30 May 2026

Talks are continuing over just how much money the company’s unsecured creditors, including vendors with past-due balances, will ultimately see. —Evan Clark, Footwear News, 27 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for creditor

• editor
• predator
• coeditor

Kids Definition

creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkred-ət-ər 

: a person to whom a debt is owed

Legal Definition

creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkre-də-tər, -ˌtȯr 

: a person to whom a debt is owed

especially : a person to whom money or goods are due compare debtor, obligor

— general creditor

: a creditor who is not secured by a lien or other security interest

called also unsecured creditor

— judgment creditor

: a creditor who has a money judgment entered against the debtor and may enforce the judgment (as by attachment or writ of execution)

— known creditor

: a creditor whose potential claim is known or should be known by a debtor and who is entitled to notice of a corporate dissolution or of a date at which claims will be barred (as in bankruptcy)

— lien creditor

: a creditor who is secured by a lien (as by attachment)

— secured creditor

: a creditor who has a security interest (as a mortgage)

— unsecured creditor

: general creditor in this entry