bankrupt

1 of 3

noun

bank·​rupt ˈbaŋk-(ˌ)rəpt How to pronounce bankrupt (audio)
1
a
: a debtor (such as an individual or an organization) whose property is subject to voluntary or involuntary administration under the bankruptcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors
b
: a person who becomes insolvent
2
: a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute
a moral bankrupt

bankrupt

2 of 3

adjective

1
a
: reduced to a state of financial ruin : impoverished
specifically : legally declared bankrupt
the company went bankrupt
b
: of or relating to bankrupts or bankruptcy
bankrupt laws
2
a
: broken, ruined
a bankrupt professional career
b
: exhausted of valuable qualities : sterile
a bankrupt old culture
c
: destitute
used with of or in
bankrupt of all merciful feelings

bankrupt

3 of 3

verb

bankrupted; bankrupting; bankrupts

transitive verb

1
: to reduce to bankruptcy
2
: impoverish
defections had bankrupted the party of its brainpower
Choose the Right Synonym for bankrupt

deplete, drain, exhaust, impoverish, bankrupt mean to deprive of something essential to existence or potency.

deplete implies a reduction in number or quantity so as to endanger the ability to function.

depleting our natural resources

drain implies a gradual withdrawal and ultimate deprivation of what is necessary to an existence.

personal tragedy had drained him of all spirit

exhaust stresses a complete emptying.

her lecture exhausted the subject

impoverish suggests a deprivation of something essential to richness or productiveness.

impoverished soil

bankrupt suggests impoverishment to the point of imminent collapse.

war had bankrupted the nation of resources

Examples of bankrupt in a Sentence

Noun As a lawyer, she specialized in working with bankrupts. Adjective The lawsuit could leave them bankrupt. the company's product development team was bankrupt of ideas Verb Several risky deals bankrupted the company. several bad investments bankrupted him
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The fight almost bankrupts the town of Shelby, Montana, which borrowed heavily to stage it. 1930 — Helen Wills Moody wins her fourth straight singles title at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Elizabeth Ryan. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2023 The plan is intended to prevent the company from being dissolved, forced into liquidation or formally declared bankrupt. Michelle Toh, CNN, 19 May 2020 India was granted independence in 1947 by a Britain left bankrupt after World War II. Cassie Werber, Quartz, 17 Oct. 2019 Ghosn was sent to Japan by Renault in the late 1990s and is credited with turning around a then near-bankrupt Nissan. Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2019 China’s Hong Kong puppet regime, albeit bankrupt of any legitimacy, is still unwilling to cede power to the people. Joshua Wong, Quartz, 3 Sep. 2019 From Henry Ford to Donald Trump, America has lionized business leaders (and shameless bankrupts) who disdain history. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019 That perception came back to bite in big way later in 2008, with the failure of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt on Sept. 15, 2008. Michael S. Derby, WSJ, 18 Sep. 2018 After earning $17 million, the men declared the company bankrupt. Jacob Bernstein, New York Times, 16 June 2018
Adjective
But this is precisely the kind of stance that shows how bankrupt much of the anti-nuclear movement’s arguments have been. Michael Lynch, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Three years later she’d be found dead in the courtyard of their home, and by 1997 the business was bankrupt. Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2024 Using PitchBook data, Global Venturing found companies corporate VCs have not backed are twice as likely to go bankrupt. Megan Poinski, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 Small businesses were going bankrupt, corporations were moving to less restrictive territory, and the majority of weed purchases were still made illegally. Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 One problem: Oceanwide is now bankrupt, part of a massive real estate market crash in China valued in the hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars that also took down Evergrande, the country’s largest real estate developer. Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2024 The collapsing Chinese real estate bubble has necessitated the international push after everyone from bankrupt property developer Evergrande to cell phone maker Xiaomi ploughed billions into building automobiles that now strain to find enough domestic buyers. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2024 Case in point: Cano Health, a company once valued at $4.4 billion, is now bankrupt. Tara Bannow, STAT, 5 Feb. 2024 Beta Film, which acquired Fisher King in 2019 and subsequently launched the umbrella banner Beta Nordic Studios, said the company was declared bankrupt on Dec. 23. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Jan. 2024
Verb
Sources from Mission Motors, an electric motorcycle startup, claim the company was bankrupted by Apple’s aggressive poaching. Wes Davis, The Verge, 3 Mar. 2024 Last year, the Center for Economic and Policy Research published a startling report on the subject, which included an account of how Blackstone effectively bankrupted a successful A.B.A. provider and shut down more than a hundred of its treatment sites. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2024 And while Gen X as a whole is ill-prepared for retirement—with the typical household having around $40,000 in retirement savings, according to a recent study—even those who have amassed at least $1 million are also also worried that one major health issue could bankrupt them. Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2024 While Musk acknowledged November’s subsequent advertiser boycott threatened to bankrupt X, the fallout for Tesla is less obvious to spot. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 11 Jan. 2024 Tech Elon Musk said an advertising boycott on his social platform, X, could bankrupt the company. David Leonhardt, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2023 Consider all that in light of Doe’s lawsuit, which could bankrupt Planned Parenthood, closing clinics in Texas and possibly elsewhere. Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, 25 Oct. 2023 The suit in which Alex Doe and Paxton are plaintiffs could bankrupt Planned Parenthood in Texas. Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, 25 Oct. 2023 The suspect blamed the group for bankrupting his family by taking excessive donations from his mother. TIME, 12 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bankrupt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

modification of Middle French & Old Italian; Middle French banqueroute bankruptcy, from Old Italian bancarotta, from banca bank + rotta broken, from Latin rupta, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere to break — more at bank, reave

First Known Use

Noun

1638, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bankrupt was in 1565

Dictionary Entries Near bankrupt

Cite this Entry

“Bankrupt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bankrupt. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bankrupt

1 of 3 noun
bank·​rupt ˈbaŋ-(ˌ)krəpt How to pronounce bankrupt (audio)
: an individual or group who becomes bankrupt
especially : one whose property by court order is turned over to be managed for the benefit of the creditors

bankrupt

2 of 3 adjective
1
: unable to pay one's debts
2
: legally declared bankrupt
the company went bankrupt

bankrupt

3 of 3 verb
: to make bankrupt

Legal Definition

bankrupt

1 of 3 noun
bank·​rupt ˈbaŋ-ˌkrəpt How to pronounce bankrupt (audio)
: a debtor (as an individual or organization) whose property is subject to administration under the bankruptcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors
was adjudicated a bankrupt
see also debtor

bankrupt

2 of 3 adjective
: ruined financially
especially : judicially declared a bankrupt
the company is bankrupt
compare insolvent

bankrupt

3 of 3 transitive verb
: to reduce to bankruptcy
was bankrupted by attorney's fees

More from Merriam-Webster on bankrupt

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!