bankrupt
adj. · v. · n.-
1 financially insolvent (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediate Lawunable to pay your debts and officially declared to have no money by a court.
legally declared unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations.
ExampleThe company went bankrupt after its main factory closed down last year.
ExampleThe retail chain was officially declared bankrupt after failing to secure a rescue deal with its primary creditors.
UsageCommonly follows the verb 'go'.
-
2 to cause financial ruin (v.) B2 Upper Intermediate Financeto make a person or a business lose all their money.
to reduce a person, business, or country to a state of bankruptcy. Transitive — requires a direct object.
ExampleHigh medical bills can bankrupt a family very quickly in some countries.
ExampleThe aggressive expansion strategy threatened to bankrupt the firm before the new stores could even open their doors.
- ruin
- impoverish
Show 1 more senseShow fewer
-
3 an insolvent person (n.) C1 Advanced Formal Lawa person who has been officially judged by a court to be unable to pay their debts.
an individual who has been legally declared insolvent and whose property is administered for the benefit of creditors.
ExampleAs a registered bankrupt, he was not allowed to act as a company director.
ExampleThe court appointed a trustee to manage the assets of the bankrupt and ensure a fair distribution to the claimants.
Partial calque of Italian bancarotta (literally “a broken bench”), from banca (“bank”, literally “bench”) + rotta (“broken, rupted”), which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken, signifying that the working moneylender was insolvent.
- Nounbankruptcy
- Adjectivebankrupt