bankruptcy
Americannoun
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the state of being or becoming bankrupt.
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utter ruin, failure, depletion, or the like.
noun
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If an individual or a corporation declares bankruptcy, a court will appoint an official to make an inventory of the individual's or corporation's assets and to establish a schedule by which creditors can be partially repaid what is owed them.
An individual who is lacking a specific resource or quality is sometimes said to be bankrupt, as in intellectually bankrupt or morally bankrupt.
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Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bankruptcy
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Explanation
Bankruptcy is a state of being bankrupt, or having no money to pay back debts that you owe. When you file for bankruptcy, you are giving up all your possessions and declaring, essentially, that you don't have any money left. During the recession, lots of businesses had to file for bankruptcy or declare by law that they were unable to pay off their debts. The ending of the word bankruptcy is a tricky one. Remember that it ends in tcy.
Vocabulary lists containing bankruptcy
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Economics
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Foundation is also an opportunity for Pathak to prove himself - Synapse, the financial services firm he co-founded and led, filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Now, amid suits and countersuits among the lender bank, investors, a bankruptcy trustee and McClain’s family, details of the alleged Ponzi scheme are coming out.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
If you discover that the community carries millions of dollars in debt, as you have, that does not necessarily mean the community itself will file for bankruptcy.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026
RAD filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, attributing its problems to publicity around the state investigation into the business and other “regulatory matters,” according to petition documents.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
In the 1890s, the price of cane sugar was declining, and the planters who owned sugar fields in British Guiana were on the edge of bankruptcy.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
