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

Disclosure and creditor protections vary widely across these structures. — Robert J. Szczerba, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026

The filing was made at the behest of a creditor, according to German news platform NDR, identified as the Minjob-Zentrale, the government agency in charge of registering the country’s part-time jobs and collecting social security contributions. — News Desk, Artforum, 16 July 2026

Her largest creditors are financial institutions, filings show. — Max Scheinblum, Denver Post, 15 July 2026

Those duties include protecting estate assets, notifying creditors, maintaining financial records and filing an inventory of the estate with the court. — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 14 July 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