uncollectible

American  

[uhn-kuh-lek-tuh-buhl] / ˌʌn kəˈlɛk tə bəl /

Or uncollectable

adjective

1. that cannot be collected.

   an uncollectible debt.

---

noun

1. something, as a financial obligation, that cannot be collected.

   an increase in the company's uncollectibles.

Etymology

Origin of uncollectible

un- ¹ + collect ¹ + -ible

Example Sentences

Paul was then surprised by Scaramucci, who told him about his plan for "collecting the uncollectible".

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

The company’s net charge-offs, which refer to the loans the bank has written off as uncollectible, increased 16% from the previous year to $185 million.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

The losses on subprime loans that are assumed to be uncollectible debt or charge-offs rose on average by some 20% by the third quarter of 2022 from 2019 levels, said Moody's.

From Reuters • Jan. 13, 2023

A different study, this one by Moody’s Investors Service, showed an average of 13 percent less uncollectible debt on unpaid hospital bills last year in Medicaid expansion states.

From Washington Times • Oct. 28, 2015

If that course had been pursued hitherto, it is undeniable that so great a quantity of funds would not have been badly administered, lost, and uncollectible.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 27 of 55 1636-37 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander