guarantor
Americannoun
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guarantors
plural
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a person, group, system, etc., that guarantees.
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a person who makes or gives a guarantee, guaranty, warrant, etc.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of guarantor
First recorded in 1850–55; guarant(ee) + -or 2
Explanation
A guarantor is a person who helps someone who's borrowing money by promising to pay it back to the lender if the borrower is unable to. Sometimes you also need a guarantor to rent an apartment. If you're young, don't have a regular job, have a bad credit score, or don't have much money in the bank, you may need a guarantor in order to get a loan from a bank. The job of the guarantor is to guarantee that the loan payments will be made — by them, if necessary. You can also use this word for people who make other guarantees: "The health department is a guarantor of food safety in our city's restaurants."
Vocabulary lists containing guarantor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She gave them Bayoumi's guarantor form, triggering an investigation into the man they would come to see as the main facilitator of the two hijackers' lives in San Diego.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
De Becker said he remains a guarantor of the business, meaning he’s on the hook if anything goes wrong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
For the better part of a century, the U.S. was the principal architect and guarantor of an open global economic system that delivered great benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
America’s reliability as a guarantor of security has been a matter of debate for a long time.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Jack, the household’s protector, its guarantor of tranquillity, was relied on to take the long view.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
We ended up relying on our parents to be guarantors so we could get approved for a Brooklyn apartment.
From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026
Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage head Ali Obeid Shalgham told AFP Iraqi security forces were the sites' "true guarantors", especially as many are in remote rural areas.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
As the guarantors of European security, U.S. officials have long prodded European politicians on various issues—but usually behind closed doors and rarely with the bluntness of Trump’s diplomats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
The leaders of the members of the regional grouping Igad - including Uganda - are supposed to be the guarantors of the 2018 deal.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
Dr. King was equally clear that future riots are not inevitable: “Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
