deadbeat

[ ded-beet ]

/ ˈdɛdˌbit /

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See synonyms for deadbeat on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

adjective

Informal. not paying one's debts or neglecting one's responsibilities:a deadbeat parent who won't pay for college;deadbeat borrowers.

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

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

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Origin of deadbeat

First recorded in 1760–70; dead + beat

Words nearby deadbeat

dead-and-alive, dead and buried, dead arm, dead as a doornail, dead-ball line, deadbeat, deadbeat dad, deadbolt, deadboy, dead bury their dead, Let the, dead-cat bounce

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use deadbeat in a sentence

Neither Wall Street nor foreign markets like to see the United States as a deadbeat borrower, especially when the alternative global economic giant is China.
Mitch McConnell Helps Democrats Avoid a Global Economic Meltdown—And Plans to Use That Against Them|Philip Elliott|December 9, 2021|Time
It was during her work presenting debt research to Congress that she overheard a man in a Senate office ranting about “deadbeats” who had babies with multiple women and then avoided child support.
“We’ve Found the Enemy, and It’s Not Each Other.” Heather McGhee's Quest to End America’s Zero-sum Thinking on Race|Alana Semuels|July 23, 2021|Time
Websites solicit lurid, unverified complaints about supposed cheaters, sexual predators, deadbeats and scammers.
Google Ads API, Partner badges, and reputation algorithms; Friday’s daily brief|Carolyn Lyden|June 11, 2021|Search Engine Land
The claims have led one tabloid to brand Jenner a “deadbeat daughter.”
Are You Legally Responsible for Your Elderly Parents?|Keli Goff|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

No, they say, instead of their intoxicated deadbeat boyfriend, they want someone…someone like Putin.
The Making of Brand Putin|Kristen Soltis Anderson|February 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anyway the phrase "deadbeat nation" is going to have a lot more resonance coming out of Obama's mouth than in Rubio's letter.
'Deadbeat' Nation|Michael Tomasky|January 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It caught a lot of people's ears just now when Obama said, "We are not a deadbeat nation."
'Deadbeat' Nation|Michael Tomasky|January 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When marriages fail, the deadbeat dad is the norm in American society, not the exception.
Summer of the Single Mom|Leslie Bennetts|September 1, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Then he makes off with another deadbeat, and starts a kind of show outside the town—this was in Port Arthur, mind.
Menotah|Ernest G. Henham
The bartender, accepting the situation as generally inclusive, put his hands up along with his deadbeat patrons.
Trail's End|George W. Ogden
The sparrow was deadbeat, and was travelling slowly to the north and west on a zigzag course, about two hundred feet high.
H.M.S. ----|Klaxon
I knew you looked a deadbeat, but Id no idea I was quite so bad, he said.
The Protector|Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for deadbeat (1 of 2)

deadbeat

/ (ˈdɛdˌbiːt) /

noun

informal a lazy or socially undesirable person

mainly US

a person who makes a habit of avoiding or evading his or her responsibilities or debts
(as modifier)a deadbeat dad

a high grade escapement used in pendulum clocks

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

(modifier) physics

(of a system) returning to an equilibrium position with little or no oscillation
(of an instrument or indicator) indicating a true reading without oscillation

British Dictionary definitions for deadbeat (2 of 2)

dead beat

adjective

informal tired out; exhausted

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with deadbeat

dead beat

Defeated; also exhausted. For example, That horse was dead beat before the race even began, or, as Charles Dickens put it in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843): “Pull off my boots for me ... I am quite knocked up. Dead beat.” [Slang; first half of 1800s]

Also, deadbeat. A lazy person or loafer; also, one who does not pay debts. For example, Her housemate knew she was a deadbeat, shirking her share of the chores, or He's a deadbeat; don't count on getting that money back. [Slang; second half of 1800s]

deadbeat

Origin of deadbeat

Words nearby deadbeat

Words related to deadbeat

How to use deadbeat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for deadbeat (1 of 2)

British Dictionary definitions for deadbeat (2 of 2)

Other Idioms and Phrases with deadbeat