insolvency
- 01 C1 Advanced
the state of not having enough money to pay your bills or debts when they are due.
the condition of being unable to pay debts in the ordinary course of business. Uncountable in this general sense.
Simple“The small shop faced insolvency after three months of very low sales.”
In context“The firm was forced into insolvency after a series of bad investments left them unable to meet their monthly payroll obligations.”
UsageOften used with the verbs 'face', 'avoid', or 'enter into'.
PitfallThe company went into the insolvency. The company went into insolvency.When referring to the state of being insolvent, 'insolvency' is usually uncountable and does not take an article.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
a financial state where the total amount of money you owe is more than the value of everything you own.
a state of negative net worth where total liabilities exceed the fair market value of all assets.
Simple“Even though they had cash in the bank, their long-term debts caused technical insolvency.”
In context“Balance sheet insolvency occurs when the total value of a company's assets is less than the total amount of its liabilities.”
Synonyms
“Research has suggested that poorer outcomes tend to occur in insolvencies where the assets are acquired by connected parties paying via future instalments.”
“Under EFL regulations, any club official who is the subject of two insolvency events is prevented from acting as a controlling owner or director.”
From insolvent + -cy.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.