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deadbeat

Pronunciation: /ˈdɛdbiːt/

The English word “deadbeat” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

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

adjective

  1. Having a damped needle that stops without oscillation.
  2. Defaulting on one's debts.
  3. Defeated or exhausted.
  4. Lazy or irresponsible.
  5. Dead tired.

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.