delinquency

American  

[dih-ling-kwuhn-see] / dɪˈlɪŋ kwən si /

noun

• delinquencies
  plural

1. failure in or neglect of duty or obligation; dereliction; default.

   delinquency in payment of dues.

2. wrongful, illegal, or antisocial behavior.

3. any misdeed, offense, or misdemeanor.

4. something, as a debt, that is past due or otherwise delinquent.

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delinquency British  

/ dɪˈlɪŋkwənsɪ /

noun

1. an offence or misdeed, usually of a minor nature, esp one committed by a young person See juvenile delinquency

2. failure or negligence in duty or obligation; dereliction

3. a delinquent nature or delinquent behaviour

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predelinquency
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• delinquencies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of delinquency

1630–40; < Late Latin dēlinquentia fault, crime, equivalent to Latin dēlinquent- (stem of dēlinquēns, present participle of dēlinquere to do wrong, equivalent to dē- de- + linquere to leave) + -ia noun suffix; see -ency

Explanation

Delinquency is a minor crime, especially one committed by a youth. Cutting class all week to drive around town without your license is a sure sign of delinquency. Delinquency can mean a particular violation, like stealing a car, but it may also refer to a more general trend of acting out and violating the law, like stealing cars daily and crashing them many times over. In this sense it’s often called juvenile delinquency. Another sense of delinquency is general neglect, particularly by someone who holds a formal position. The word can also refer to an unpaid debt. You’re thinking about those unpaid library fines now, right?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

delinquency delinquencies

The delinquency rate for multifamily loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities jumped from 1% in October 2023 to 7.1% this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

He told AFP debt delinquency was "not a consequence of individual decisions" but the result of "a macroeconomic context that has worsened incomes, employment and economic activity."

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

“Every delinquency has its own story,” said Deborah Amilowski, president of the condo association.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

It’s possible banks are tightening their standards, which means more creditworthy accounts are getting counted while nonpaying accounts are charged off or slip into delinquency.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

One of the many items they failed to disclose was the delinquency rate of the home loans they were making.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

In turn, higher insurance costs could lead to an uptick in delinquencies over the coming months and years.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Elevated delinquencies don’t indicate a program in distress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

“When the pace of new delinquencies stabilized in early 2024, the stock kept rising as charged-off debts accumulated,” the researchers said in their blog post.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

New York Fed researchers found that the pace of credit-card delinquencies stabilized after 2024 when removing severely derogatory balances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

He didn't have any juvenile criminal history—no prior arrests, no misconduct in school, no delinquencies or prior court appearances.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• default