red ink
Americannoun
-
a financial deficit; business loss.
-
the condition of showing a business loss.
Etymology
Origin of red ink
An Americanism dating back to 1925–30
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.
The deficit in the 2025 fiscal year was $1.78 trillion, down only slightly from the prior year’s $1.82 trillion in red ink.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
The company attributed most of the flood of red ink to “loss from investments,” of which more in a moment.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
During more than four decades as a private-equity investor, he swung from gushers of profit to sinkholes of red ink.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
Reality Labs, the division responsible for metaverse, has lost $70 billion since the beginning of 2021, including the $4.4 billion in red ink reported over the last quarter.
From Barron's • Dec. 4, 2025
I take a slow sip of lukewarm coffee, reopen the book, and read the words scribbled in red ink near the top: Everyone needs an olly-olly-oxen-free.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
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.
