bankruptcy

American  

[bangk-ruhpt-see, -ruhp-see] / ˈbæŋk rʌpt si, -rəp si /

noun

• bankruptcies
  plural

1. the state of being or becoming bankrupt.

2. utter ruin, failure, depletion, or the like.

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bankruptcy British  

/ ˈbæŋkrʌptsɪ, -rəptsɪ /

noun

1. the state, condition, or quality of being or becoming bankrupt

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bankruptcy Cultural  

1. Legally declared insolvency, or inability to pay creditors.

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Discover More

If an individual or a corporation declares bankruptcy, a court will appoint an official to make an inventory of the individual's or corporation's assets and to establish a schedule by which creditors can be partially repaid what is owed them.

An individual who is lacking a specific resource or quality is sometimes said to be bankrupt, as in intellectually bankrupt or morally bankrupt.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prebankruptcy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bankruptcies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bankruptcy

First recorded in 1690–1700; bankrupt + -cy

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Compare meaning

How does bankruptcy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• insolvency vs. bankruptcy

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Explanation

Bankruptcy is a state of being bankrupt, or having no money to pay back debts that you owe. When you file for bankruptcy, you are giving up all your possessions and declaring, essentially, that you don't have any money left. During the recession, lots of businesses had to file for bankruptcy or declare by law that they were unable to pay off their debts. The ending of the word bankruptcy is a tricky one. Remember that it ends in tcy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bankruptcy bankruptcies

Unlike conventional lenders that try to work out repayment plans to keep companies afloat, MCA funders “don’t care whether the business makes it or not,” said Richard Cook, a Wilmington, N.C., bankruptcy attorney.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Rather than a lifeline, merchant cash advances have been a deadly anchor for businesses around the U.S., said bankruptcy attorneys and advisers to financially troubled companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The lawyer advised Jauregui to file for bankruptcy liquidation if the MCA funders wouldn’t agree to reduced payments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

They phoned restructuring lawyers and, on Tuesday, brought in a top bankruptcy lawyer from Davis Polk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

And here she’d always berated him for his failures in business when the greater bankruptcy had been on her part.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

A Wall Street Journal analysis found that more than half of the federal bankruptcies filed by small businesses in the first nine months of 2026 owed money to companies that issue MCAs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Founded in 1931, Weil was a pioneer among elite firms in building a restructuring practice, leading some of the largest bankruptcies in history, including those of Lehman Brothers, General Motors and Enron.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

“We have record high businesses that have gone out of business, bankruptcies, businesses that are leaving, family bankruptcies are at an all-time high,” Drazan said, exaggerating some.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026

Farm bankruptcies jumped 46 percent from 2024 to 2025, with the Midwest outpacing other regions, on lower revenue and rising expenses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

From January to June 2007, the news from the pool—its delinquencies, its bankruptcies, its house foreclosures—had remained fairly consistent.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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Related Words

• default
• disaster
• failure
• insolvency
• liquidation
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