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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

deadbeat.

A lazy or irresponsible person who is often unemployed, often depending upon wealthy or otherwise financially independent people for support.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈdɛdbiːt/UK
  1. A lazy or irresponsible person who is often unemployed, often depending upon wealthy or otherwise financially independent people for support.

    derogatory
  2. A person who defaults on debts.

  3. 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.)

    ironic · slang
Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈdɛdbiːt/UK
  1. Having a damped needle that stops without oscillation.

    not-comparable
  2. Defaulting on one's debts.

    not-comparable
  3. Defeated or exhausted.

    not-comparable
  4. Lazy or irresponsible.

    derogatory · not-comparable
  5. Dead tired.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.