credit score

American  

[kred-it skawr] / ˈkrɛd ɪt ˌskɔr /

noun

Personal Finance.

• credit scores
  plural

1. a numerical ranking of an individual’s financial creditworthiness based on spending and credit history, indicating to potential lenders and credit card issuers the individual’s capacity and likelihood to make timely payments of amounts due on loans or credit cards.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• credit scores
  plural

Etymology

Origin of credit score

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

credit score

Read more: Want to improve your credit score?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Joe Thompson is a nurse who once had a credit score in the 750s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

His credit score had cratered from 753 to 563 and he was close to $75,000 in debt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

A bad credit score hurts your ability to take out a loan, rent housing and even qualify for certain jobs.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

The player winning the first stroke gets a credit score of 15; for the second he gets 30; for the third 40, and if he wins the fourth he has the game.

From Entertainments for Home, Church and School by Frederica Seeger