bankrupt

[ bangk-ruhpt, -ruhpt ]

/ ˈbæŋk rʌpt, -rəpt /

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See synonyms for: bankrupt / bankrupted / bankrupting / bankrupts on Thesaurus.com

noun

Law. a person who upon his or her own petition or that of his or her creditors is adjudged insolvent by a court and whose property is administered for and divided among his or her creditors under a bankruptcy law.

any insolvent debtor; a person unable to satisfy any just claims made upon him or her.

a person who is lacking in a particular thing or quality: a moral bankrupt.

adjective

Law. subject to or under legal process because of insolvency; insolvent.

at the end of one's resources; lacking (usually followed by of or in): bankrupt of compassion; bankrupt in good manners.

pertaining to bankrupts or bankruptcy.

verb (used with object)

to make bankrupt: His embezzlement bankrupted the company.

OTHER WORDS FOR bankrupt

4 destitute, impoverished.

See synonyms for bankrupt on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of bankrupt

1525–35; <Medieval Latin banca rupta bank broken; replacing adaptations of Italian banca rota and French banqueroute in same sense

OTHER WORDS FROM bankrupt

pseu·do·bank·rupt, adjectivequasi-bankrupt, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bankrupt in a sentence

Strangely, none of these failed predictions have bankrupted the prophetic project.
Sorry, Evangelicals, Syria Will Not Spur the Second Coming|Candida Moss|September 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Since the financial system nearly bankrupted the country, Wall Street firms have also been subject to more regulation.
Wall Street Showers Romney Campaign With Donations, Abandons Obama|Luke Kerr-Dineen|October 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One can easily imagine the Democratic ads: “Even Newt Gingrich said Romney robbed companies and bankrupted them.”
Will New Hampshire’s Primary Matter in the 2012 GOP Nomination Battle?|Howard Kurtz|January 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Basically bankrupted themselves in the name of ‘national security.’
Tragedy of the Picture Brides|Jane Ciabattari|September 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST

It bankrupted him, compelling the marbles' sale to the museum.
Greece's Modern Wonder|Linda Yablonsky|June 25, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Not a night but some brown maiden Bettered all the dusk she strayed in, While the roses in her hair Bankrupted oblivion there.
Songs from Vagabondia|Bliss Carman and Richard Hovey
Do you think He bankrupted Himself giving you and me the little sense, the little power thats in us?
Wheat and Huckleberries|Charlotte Marion (White) Vaile
The war, liberation of slaves, the sudden extinguishment of millions of property, bankrupted the South.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, June 1899|Various
The panic destroyed the railways and bankrupted the inhabitants.
The Last American Frontier|Frederic L. (Frederic Logan) Paxson
Altogether he had spent five million dollars on the undertaking and had nearly bankrupted the empire.
The Ship Dwellers|Albert Bigelow Paine

British Dictionary definitions for bankrupt

bankrupt

/ (ˈbæŋkrʌpt, -rəpt) /

noun

a person adjudged insolvent by a court, his or her property being transferred to a trustee and administered for the benefit of his creditors

any person unable to discharge all his or her debts

a person whose resources in a certain field are exhausted or nonexistenta spiritual bankrupt

adjective

adjudged insolvent

financially ruined

depleted in resources or having completely failedspiritually bankrupt

(foll by of) British lackingbankrupt of intelligence

verb

(tr) to make bankrupt

Word Origin for bankrupt

C16: from Old French banqueroute, from Old Italian bancarotta, from banca bank 1 + rotta broken, from Latin ruptus, from rumpere to break

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bankrupt

OTHER WORDS FOR bankrupt

Origin of bankrupt

OTHER WORDS FROM bankrupt

Words related to bankrupt

How to use bankrupt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bankrupt

Word Origin for bankrupt