deleveraging

American  

[dee-lev-er-ij-ing, ‑lee-ver‑] / diˈlɛv ər ɪdʒ ɪŋ, ‑li vər‑ /

noun

1. the act or process of paying off or reducing debt; a decreasing of financial leverage.

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Etymology

Origin of deleveraging

First recorded in 1975–80; de- ( def. ) + leveraging ( def. )

Example Sentences

“With the deleveraging process well advanced and a more flexible capital structure in place, WD retains the ability to continue returning capital while benefiting from durable nearline and AI-driven demand trends,” Daryanani wrote.

From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026

Price pullbacks in January and March coincided with outflows from exchange-traded-funds and spikes in trading activity, suggesting profit-taking and deleveraging, the WGC, a trade group, said in its latest report.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

Investors waking up to volatile and panic-stricken markets on Monday may be surprised to discover that gold is now in negative territory for the year after a painful bout of profit-taking and deleveraging.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026

Peter Supino of Wolfe Research said in his own report that Paramount Warner faces “the difficult task of growing share while simultaneously deleveraging, a balance that could come at the expense of content investment.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026

“We are going through the greatest deleveraging in the history of financial services and it’s going to go on and on and on,” he said.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis