credit rating

American  

noun

1. a classification of credit risk based on investigation of a customer's or potential customer's financial resources, prior payment pattern, and personal history or degree of personal responsibility for debts incurred.

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credit rating British  

noun

1. an evaluation of the creditworthiness of an individual or business enterprise

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credit rating Cultural  

1. An evaluation of the financial trustworthiness of an individual, firm, or government.

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Etymology

Origin of credit rating

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings upgraded CK Hutchison’s credit rating, citing progress in paring down debt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Both Fitch and S&P Global have assigned Paramount a BB+ issuer credit rating, also referred to as junk status.

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

“This is the number one risk with Corsia,” said Ben Rattenbury, VP of policy at carbon credit rating and services provider Sylvera.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

CoreWeave has a B+ credit rating from S&P Global Ratings, meaning that the company’s debt is rated four notches below the investment-grade threshold.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 20, 2026

Nina Chandler Murray, an eighty-five-year-old relative of the Poor family of Standard & Poor’s, the investment credit rating firm, is convinced that the world of the elite was more genteel in the old days.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times