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

No end in sight For now, Schmidt is calling creditors to figure out what bills must be paid. —Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a business is dissolved and its assets are sold to pay off creditors. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025

To that, Professional Bull Riders, another one of the MSM creditors that was a party to the this case, took a bit of a victory lap around the ring today. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025

Temporary cessations of hostility, but no permanent closing of the moral and social divide between debtor and creditor, and no giving up on the thought that some lives matter more than others. —Henry Freedland, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

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