payday loan

noun

plural payday loans

: a short-term high-interest loan in a relatively small sum usually intended to be repaid from the borrower's next paycheck : a loan issued by a payday lender

Payday loans involve potential financial pitfalls, such as debt that grows uncontrollably if not repaid on time.

—Matt Ryan Webber

Examples of payday loan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As with previous years, the city will have to issue tax anticipation warrants – essentially a payday loan for local governments – to get by until the first installment of property taxes is paid next year. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 8 July 2026

Those practices included predatory mortgage lending, junk fees, confusing jargon on financial product descriptions, payday loans, and much more. — Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 20 May 2026

Among the condemned is House Bill 1046, which would've carved out paycheck advance services from Colorado's payday loan regulations. — Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 12 May 2026

Are these costs far lower than the exorbitant charges of a payday loan? — Erik Sherman, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for payday loan

• acetone
• anglophone
• baritone
• bourguignon
• buspirone
• chaperon
• chaperone
• cobblestone
• collarbone
• cornerstone
• cortisone
• dictaphone