defaulter

[ dih-fawl-ter ]
See synonyms for defaulter on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who defaults or fails to fulfill an obligation, especially a legal or financial one.

  2. British. a soldier convicted by court-martial.

Origin of defaulter

1
First recorded in 1660–70; default + -er1

Words Nearby defaulter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use defaulter in a sentence

  • The King is attended by a numerous band of courtiers and attendants, all of whom seem moving forward to arrest the defaulter.

    The Fortunes of Nigel | Sir Walter Scott
  • For who could tell the name of a defaulter at the station, but Mrs. Darcy?

    My New Curate | P.A. Sheehan
  • There could be no other answer, he said, and he could give none for Putney to carry back to the defaulter's daughters.

    The Quality of Mercy | W. D. Howells
  • I don't understand you, Matt, saying your father's part is more odious than a self-confessed defaulter's.

    The Quality of Mercy | W. D. Howells
  • Anyway, the American defaulter who goes to Canada never makes any effort to grow up with the country.

    The Quality of Mercy | W. D. Howells

British Dictionary definitions for defaulter

defaulter

/ (dɪˈfɔːltə) /


noun
  1. a person who defaults

  2. mainly British a person, esp a soldier, who has broken the disciplinary code of his service

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