deadbeat

American  

[ded-beet] / ˈdɛdˌbit /

noun

deadbeats plural

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

2. Informal. a loafer; sponger.

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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 British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• deadbeats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of deadbeat

First recorded in 1760–70; dead + beat

Explanation

A deadbeat is someone who owes money or has other financial obligations and doesn't meet them. Deadbeats don't pay their bills. This is an insult that is very specific: deadbeats don't pay what they owe. If someone went to a restaurant and didn't pay, the manager might say "You deadbeat!" If you don't pay a cable or phone bill, you're a deadbeat. A roommate who doesn't pay their share of the rent is a deadbeat. People often talk about deadbeat dads who abandon their children and don't pay child support. A more formal word for a deadbeat is defaulter.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deadbeat deadbeats

He laughed when I asked whether the U.S. could become a deadbeat borrower or release tainted data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

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.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2025

He later calls Drake a "deadbeat" and suggests he has secretly fathered another child.

From BBC ● May 4, 2024

Clara, a housewife stuck in a deadbeat marriage, understands the feeling all too well.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2023

Pluto was just another deadbeat godly dad making weak excuses.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Yes, many more deadbeats, and even the public housing authority is pleading for relief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

Far from being "deadbeats", Nathan says all the young dads he's worked with "will literally dedicate their whole life to being the best dad they can possibly be".

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2023

Because he cares more than us deadbeats he has swept up all of the garbage!

From Salon ● May 23, 2022

Meanwhile, the three children raised predominantly in Gilmer became total deadbeats.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2021

In the past I had put up with her tantrums and said nothing when she'd yelled at me in front of the deadbeats, but this was asking too much.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris