indebted

adjective

in·​debt·​ed in-ˈde-təd How to pronounce indebted (audio)
1
: owing gratitude or recognition to another : beholden
2
: owing money

Examples of indebted in a Sentence

thereafter forever felt indebted to the producer for giving her her lucky break
Recent Examples on the Web Spirit is heavily indebted and last turned a profit before the Covid-19 pandemic. J. Edward Moreno, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Now, the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2024 could end up heavily indebted to a bank, donor, or some other source of capital. Kara Scannell, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024 For all the attention paid to default risks facing China Evergrande Group and other heavily indebted developers, the real worry may be leverage from local government financing vehicles, or LGFVs. William Pesek, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 While the seemingly random shapes and textures of microorganisms inform much recent art, Buster’s current work appears more indebted to architecture and aeronautical design. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024 On Monday, China Evergrande Group—the massively indebted developer whose troubles arguably triggered China’s real estate crisis in the first place—will face a critical liquidation hearing in Hong Kong. Nicholas Gordon, Fortune Asia, 26 Jan. 2024 Regulators also loosened rules for how indebted property developers could pay back loans. Alexandra Stevenson, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024 Another pattern was that Apollo's hospitals were highly indebted. Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2024 Last week, a court in Hong Kong ordered the liquidation of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer. Matt Egan, CNN, 5 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'indebted.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English indetted, from Anglo-French endetté, past participle of endetter to run into debt, from en- + dette debt

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of indebted was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near indebted

Cite this Entry

“Indebted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indebted. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

indebted

adjective
in·​debt·​ed in-ˈdet-əd How to pronounce indebted (audio)
: being in debt : owing something (as money or gratitude)

More from Merriam-Webster on indebted

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