deadbeat
/ˈdɛdbiːt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.77 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A lazy or irresponsible person who is often unemployed, often depending upon wealthy or otherwise financially independent people for support.
Derogatory
noun
A customer who pays their credit card or loan balance in full and on time each month, thereby incurring no interest charges. (Compare revolver, who carries a balance and pays interest.)
Slang
adj
Having a damped needle that stops without oscillation.
adj
Defaulting on one's debts.
adj
Example Sentences
- "With a few exceptions, all those changes were published in the Ontario Gazette, a little-read compendium of government business that comes out every week. The province requires this by law, as do most Canadian jurisdictions, nominally to thwart fraudsters and deadbeats."
- "Deadbeat is slang for a credit card user who pays their balance in full and on time each month. […] A deadbeat is also called a "nonrevolver" or a "transactor." […] However, so-called deadbeats in the credit world also do not rack up bills they never pay, so they do not generate significant losses for credit card companies like real deadbeats, who do not pay their bills."
Etymology
From dead + beat. As an adjective, of a person, to be exhausted, first use appears c. the 1820s. During the American Civil War, it also became a derogatory adjective, in the sense of "a person that defaults on their debts or avoids responsibilities" and "sponger", "vagabond". This sense dates from c. 1863. Possibly related to good for nothing.
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈdɛdbiːt/