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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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.
The store closed more than five years ago in the wake of a 2018 filing by its parent company for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
Less than a year and a half later, the company filed for bankruptcy and then shut down.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
By the time the company declared bankruptcy, about $9 billion was missing from accounts.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
The company is run by a serial entrepreneur with a history of bankruptcy and lawsuits alleging fraud.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2026
Employers will look at that $30,000 figure, which is over twice what they currently pay entry-level workers, and see nothing but bankruptcy ahead.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
