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

See Examples For:

credit rating

Investors are concerned that the company’s increasing capital expenditures are straining its balance sheet and potentially pushing its credit rating below investment grade.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

That is because the credit rating on each investment generally determines the dollar amount an insurer must set aside to protect against the risk of loss.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

President Nicusor Dan, a pro-European centrist, tried to address people's concerns last weekend after Romania avoided a downgrade of its credit rating by Fitch to "junk", or below investment grade.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Pizarro also told analysts that without legislation supporting the utilities, Edison’s credit rating could be downgraded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 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