Idiom idiom
deadbeat dad
Meaning
A man, especially one who is divorced or estranged from his partner, who fails to provide monetary child support when he is legally required to do so.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“She struggles to raise her kids because their father is a deadbeat dad.”
“The court ordered him to pay child support, but he remains a deadbeat dad who refuses to contribute a single cent.”
“Despite his public claims of being a devoted parent, his former partner labeled him a deadbeat dad due to his persistent refusal to provide the legally mandated financial support.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026