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 could not afford to rent privately and discovered that many social landlords wanted prospective tenants to have a guarantor.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 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
America’s reliability as a guarantor of security has been a matter of debate for a long time.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Beijing has been sought as a possible guarantor of any lasting agreement, official sources have said, with Trump confirming to AFP that China helped get Tehran to the negotiating table.
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
Jack, the household’s protector, its guarantor of tranquillity, was relied on to take the long view.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Guterres said he was there to show "solidarity with the people of Cyprus" and his commitment to "finding, or helping to find -- both with the Cypriots but also with the guarantors -- a solution".
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
She said her parents had to act as guarantors so she could rent a home, calling it a "very degrading process".
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
We ended up relying on our parents to be guarantors so we could get approved for a Brooklyn apartment.
From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026
A December 2022 Hamas document includes the names and details of 55 such guarantors across 48 NGOs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 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.
