in arrears
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The U.S. is more than $4 billion in arrears to the U.N.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
Tariffs are paid a month in arrears, meaning the Supreme Court’s decision will likely affect March’s tariff revenue.
From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026
Inflation also undermines the value of Social Security payments, because the annual cost-of-living adjustments come a year in arrears.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 16, 2026
They included a couple now £13,000 in arrears on a home they bought, and a woman who faced the repossession of a house she left following a marriage breakdown 15 years earlier.
From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025
The pews were decrepit, the bills were once so in arrears the electricity was nearly turned off, and the padre hadn’t installed air-conditioning, despite summer temperatures that reach 120 degrees.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
