bankruptcy

American  

[bangk-ruhpt-see, -ruhp-see] / ˈbæŋk rʌpt si, -rəp si /

noun

• bankruptcies
  plural

1. the state of being or becoming bankrupt.

2. utter ruin, failure, depletion, or the like.

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bankruptcy British  

/ ˈbæŋkrʌptsɪ, -rəptsɪ /

noun

1. the state, condition, or quality of being or becoming bankrupt

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bankruptcy Cultural  

1. Legally declared insolvency, or inability to pay creditors.

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Discover More

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prebankruptcy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bankruptcies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bankruptcy

First recorded in 1690–1700; bankrupt + -cy

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Compare meaning

How does bankruptcy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• insolvency vs. 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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bankruptcy bankruptcies

Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy has said those connected to LIV Golf were expressing an ambition to "destroy the European Tour" at the 2026 Masters, only months before the league filed for bankruptcy protection.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Last month, Character.AI filed for bankruptcy, and Disney offered $20 million to license some of the startup’s intellectual property.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

The law was passed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers to protect utilities from bankruptcy if their power lines spark a catastrophic fire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Unlike conventional lenders that try to work out repayment plans to keep companies afloat, MCA funders “don’t care whether the business makes it or not,” said Richard Cook, a Wilmington, N.C., bankruptcy attorney.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

On Monday, Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch, having announced $55.2 billion in losses on subprime bond–backed CDOs, had sold itself to Bank of America.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

A Wall Street Journal analysis found that more than half of the federal bankruptcies filed by small businesses in the first nine months of 2026 owed money to companies that issue MCAs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Even as record diesel prices have triggered a wave of trucking bankruptcies, driving diesel-free vehicles has turned out to be more expensive than expected.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

The firm was a pioneer in building a restructuring practice, leading some of the largest bankruptcies in history, including those of Lehman Brothers, General Motors and Enron.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Farm bankruptcies jumped 46 percent from 2024 to 2025, with the Midwest outpacing other regions, on lower revenue and rising expenses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The various bonds you make from those loans will go bad not as the loans go bad but months later, after a lot of tedious foreclosures and bankruptcies and forced sales.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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Related Words

• default
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