indebted

adjective

in·​debt·​ed in-ˈde-təd 

1

: owing gratitude or recognition to another : beholden

I'm indebted to you for your help.

2

: owing money

Synonyms of indebted

• obligated

Examples of indebted in a Sentence

thereafter forever felt indebted to the producer for giving her her lucky break

Recent Examples on the Web

Where the risks turn greater is if bond yields rise enough to hurt the US economy and to negatively affect the refinancing ability of highly indebted companies that use private market lending. —Edward Harrison, Bloomberg, 4 Mar. 2026

The result is a large cohort of angry indebted graduates. —The Week Uk, TheWeek, 1 Mar. 2026

To be blunt, rather than being the smartest guys in the room, they are thought to be knuckleheads and bought everything to do with heavily indebted loan packaging, both public and private. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026

Smith knows Williams made the final call to hire him, but feels most indebted to his new boss. —Andrew Callahan, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2026

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

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for indebted

• abetted
• brevetted
• gazetted
• pigmented
• pileated
• pipetted
• regretted
• rivetted
• unheated
• carburetted
• silhouetted
• fetid

Kids Definition

indebted

adjective

in·​debt·​ed in-ˈdet-əd 

: being in debt : owing something (as money or gratitude)