deadbeat

[ded-beet]

noun

1. Informal.,  a person who deliberately avoids paying debts or neglects responsibilities.

2. Informal.,  a loafer; sponger.

adjective

1. Informal.,  not paying one's debts or neglecting one's responsibilities.

   a deadbeat parent who won't pay for college;

   deadbeat borrowers.

2. Horology.,  noting any of various timepiece escapements that act without recoil of the locking parts from the shock of contact.

3. Electricity.,  (of the indicator of an electric meter and the like) coming to a stop with little or no oscillation.

deadbeat

/ ˈdɛdˌbiːt /

noun

1. informal,  a lazy or socially undesirable person

2. 1. a person who makes a habit of avoiding or evading his or her responsibilities or debts

   2. ( as modifier )

      a deadbeat dad

3. a high grade escapement used in pendulum clocks

4. (modifier) (of a clock escapement) having a beat without any recoil

5. (modifier) physics

   1. (of a system) returning to an equilibrium position with little or no oscillation

   2. (of an instrument or indicator) indicating a true reading without oscillation

Word History and Origins

Origin of deadbeat¹

First recorded in 1760–70; dead + beat

Example Sentences

He alienated many in his own profession, calling many fellow academics "dinosaurs", "deadbeats", "fossils" and "has-beens" in his autobiography, Avoid Boring People.

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The members must contrive to pay the new guy off, which means redeeming the deadbeat’s paper.

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“So, if some people interpret the album ‘Deadbeat’ as like, ‘deadbeat dad,’ that’s OK.”

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"You had two faces," the prosecutor Nanette Rogers said, after making Erin read aloud expletive-laden Facebook messages in which she had called Simon a "deadbeat" and his parents "a lost cause".

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Just prepare yourself for a Frankensteined dog cop, a killer cyber fish, a plethora of puns and . . . a surprisingly empowering message about how we should regard deadbeat cat dads.

Read more on Salon