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

Creditors in more than half of those cases included companies offering MCAs, according to an analysis of bankruptcy filings by The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Federal bankruptcy filings by small businesses—those owing no more than $3.4 million—rose 36% in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

They phoned restructuring lawyers and, on Tuesday, brought in a top bankruptcy lawyer from Davis Polk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

The firm plans to dissolve without filing for bankruptcy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 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

Plus, scavenging bankruptcies for AI training data, the price of large residential lots and the public’s trust in the Fed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 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

Weil was a pioneer among elite firms in building a restructuring practice, leading some of the largest bankruptcies in history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 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 number of bankruptcies hied with the federal court in Midland went up by 65 percent.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

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Related Words

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