bankrupt

[ bangk-ruhpt, -ruhpt ]

noun

1. Law. a person who upon their own petition or that of their creditors is adjudged insolvent by a court and whose property is administered for and divided among their creditors under a bankruptcy law.
2. any insolvent debtor; a person unable to satisfy any just claims made upon them.
3. a person who is lacking in a particular thing or quality:

   a moral bankrupt.

adjective

1. Law. subject to or under legal process because of insolvency; insolvent.

   Synonyms: impoverished, destitute

2. at the end of one's resources; lacking (usually followed by of or in ):

   bankrupt of compassion;

   bankrupt in good manners.

3. related to the act or process of being adjudged insolvent by a court and having one's property andministered for and divided among one's creditors.

verb (used with object)

1. to make insolvent:

   His embezzlement bankrupted the company.

bankrupt

/ -rəpt; ˈbæŋkrʌpt /

noun

1. a person adjudged insolvent by a court, his or her property being transferred to a trustee and administered for the benefit of his creditors
2. any person unable to discharge all his or her debts
3. a person whose resources in a certain field are exhausted or nonexistent

   a spiritual bankrupt

adjective

1. adjudged insolvent
2. financially ruined
3. depleted in resources or having completely failed

   spiritually bankrupt

4. foll by of lacking

   bankrupt of intelligence

verb

1. tr to make bankrupt

Other Words From

• pseudo·bankrupt adjective
• quasi-bankrupt adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bankrupt¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin banca rupta “bank broken”; replacing adaptations of Italian banca rota and French banqueroute in same sense

Word History and Origins

Origin of bankrupt¹

C16: from Old French banqueroute , from Old Italian bancarotta , from banca bank ¹+ rotta broken, from Latin ruptus , from rumpere to break

Example Sentences

While serving on the bench for more than 25 years, Fitzgerald oversaw multibillion-dollar coverage disputes waged between bankrupt companies and their insurers.

From Fortune

SoftBank-backed OneWeb got hundreds of satellites in orbit but went bankrupt earlier this year and was bought by a group led by the British government.

From Fortune

You know, if you’ve got a parking lot and you go bankrupt — well, the parking lot gets transferred to your creditors and they’ll develop the parking lot.

From Freakonomics

It allows you, if you’re confronted with a medical issue and your insurance is not up to par, it allows you to be able to deal with that health issue without the risk of going bankrupt.

From Freakonomics

The company shifted its focus away from South America toward the United States, plunging cash instead in Texas-based projects like Oncor Electric Delivery, the state’s once bankrupt and largest transmission and distribution electric utility.

From Voice of San Diego

These are men who now have wives and children, and their silence so many years later shows how morally bankrupt they remain.

From The Daily Beast

Afterward he went bankrupt and said the stress caused him to split from his girlfriend.

From The Daily Beast

It was that we have serious fiscal problems that are going to bankrupt cities and towns—literally—and hurt a lot of people.

From The Daily Beast

By the late summer, AIG was functionally bankrupt—unable to meet financial obligations or raise new cash.

From The Daily Beast

By the time the airline declared itself bankrupt in 1991, more than 90,000 people, including Ronald Reagan, were still waiting.

From The Daily Beast

Now-a-days it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding creditors who are jeered and laughed at.

From Project Gutenberg

Any person who owes debts, or business corporation, may become a voluntary bankrupt.

From Project Gutenberg

The judge or referee must be present at this meeting, also the bankrupt if required by the court.

From Project Gutenberg

Then follows the first meeting of the bankrupt's creditors, within thirty days after the adjudication.

From Project Gutenberg

Whatever property on which a levy could have been made by judicial process against the bankrupt passes to the trustee.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• broke
• destitute
• failed
• insolvent