Word
bankrupt
Phoneticsbank·rupt, stress on the first syllable
US/ˈbæŋkɹəpt/
UK/bˈæŋkɹʌpt/
Definitions
01financially insolvent
B2 · Upper Intermediate Law
adj. unable to pay your debts and officially declared to have no money by a court.
adj. legally declared unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations.
“The company went bankrupt after its main factory closed down last year.”
“The retail chain was officially declared bankrupt after failing to secure a rescue deal with its primary creditors.”
Usage
Commonly follows the verb 'go'.
02to cause financial ruin
B2 · Upper Intermediate Finance
v. to make a person or a business lose all their money.
v. to reduce a person, business, or country to a state of bankruptcy. Transitive — requires a direct object.
“High medical bills can bankrupt a family very quickly in some countries.”
“The aggressive expansion strategy threatened to bankrupt the firm before the new stores could even open their doors.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
03an insolvent person
C1 · Advanced Countable noun Law Formal
n. a person who has been officially judged by a court to be unable to pay their debts.
n. an individual who has been legally declared insolvent and whose property is administered for the benefit of creditors.
“As a registered bankrupt, he was not allowed to act as a company director.”
“The court appointed a trustee to manage the assets of the bankrupt and ensure a fair distribution to the claimants.”
Antonyms
Real-World Examples
“It bankrupted the director, and he abandoned Justin's mother Caroline, leaving her with all his debts.” “It is no spoiler to reveal that the attempt bankrupted a struggling Scottish economy, hampered already by its overbearing neighbour, England.” Etymology
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
NOUN
ADJECTIVE
Related words
Idioms
01. bankrupt cart
02. morally bankrupt
Domains
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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