deadbeat
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deadbeat
- /ˈdɛdbiːt/ UK
Where it 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.
noun deadbeats · dead beat · dead-beat
- A lazy or irresponsible person who is often unemployed, often depending upon wealthy or otherwise financially independent people for support.
- A person who defaults on debts. 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.
- 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.) 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 f
Similar: idler
adjective dead beat · dead-beat
- Having a damped needle that stops without oscillation.
- Defaulting on one's debts.
- Defeated or exhausted.
- Lazy or irresponsible.
- Dead tired.
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: idler
Translations
Every language
noun lazy person, depending upon financially independent people for support
| Español | incumplidor, faltón |
|---|---|
| Português | vagabundo, parasita, aproveitador |
| Deutsch | Faulpelz, Gammler, Schnorrer |
| Русский | тунеядец tunejadec, дармоед darmojed |
adj exhausted, dead tired
| Español | faltón, incumplidor |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | fix und fertig, völlig erschöpft |
Talk about this word "deadbeat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/deadbeat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. deadbeat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/deadbeat "deadbeat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/deadbeat.Cite this
@misc{deadbeat_2026,
title = {deadbeat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/deadbeat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
