bankrupt

[ bangk-ruhpt, -ruhpt ]

noun

1. Law. a person who upon their own petition or that of their creditors is adjudged insolvent by a court and whose property is administered for and divided among their creditors under a bankruptcy law.
2. any insolvent debtor; a person unable to satisfy any just claims made upon them.
3. a person who is lacking in a particular thing or quality:

   a moral bankrupt.

adjective

1. Law. subject to or under legal process because of insolvency; insolvent.

   Synonyms: impoverished, destitute

2. at the end of one's resources; lacking (usually followed by of or in ):

   bankrupt of compassion;

   bankrupt in good manners.

3. related to the act or process of being adjudged insolvent by a court and having one's property andministered for and divided among one's creditors.

verb (used with object)

1. to make insolvent:

   His embezzlement bankrupted the company.

bankrupt

/ ˈbæŋkrʌpt; -rəpt /

noun

1. a person adjudged insolvent by a court, his or her property being transferred to a trustee and administered for the benefit of his creditors
2. any person unable to discharge all his or her debts
3. a person whose resources in a certain field are exhausted or nonexistent

   a spiritual bankrupt

adjective

1. adjudged insolvent
2. financially ruined
3. depleted in resources or having completely failed

   spiritually bankrupt

4. foll by of lacking

   bankrupt of intelligence

verb

1. tr to make bankrupt

Other Words From

• pseudo·bankrupt adjective
• quasi-bankrupt adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bankrupt¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin banca rupta “bank broken”; replacing adaptations of Italian banca rota and French banqueroute in same sense

Word History and Origins

Origin of bankrupt¹

C16: from Old French banqueroute , from Old Italian bancarotta , from banca bank ¹+ rotta broken, from Latin ruptus , from rumpere to break

Example Sentences

The unitary council in south Essex became effectively bankrupt two years ago after it borrowed and invested hundreds of millions and racked up a £1.5bn debt.

From BBC

Customers of the bankrupt Celsius reveal how the cryptocurrency firm’s collapse upended their lives.

From Los Angeles Times

Kat McNamara, an independent politician who opposed the bill, told the crowd: "The idea that in order to support a 10-year-old you have to criminalise them is irrational, ineffective and morally bankrupt."

From BBC

Again and again in his career—when Tesla nearly went bankrupt after the financial crisis, when it was mired in “production hell” after scaling up production in the late 2010s, and when SpaceX nearly went bankrupt—Musk has managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat and thoroughly flummox his detractors.

From Slate

“Whether or not they are self-serving or true believers in the new fascism is unimportant. They are of the movement . . . Whether they are driven by the idea that what they are fighting for is a free speech issue or whether they are truly morally bankrupt racists doesn’t matter. They are part of the public face of a fascist political movement that seeks to destroy the democratic idea.”

From Salon

Related Words

• broke
• destitute
• failed
• insolvent