In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay one's debts.
"After losing his entire investment portfolio, the once-successful entrepreneur was forced to declare himself bankrupt and sell off all his assets just to cover the basic living expenses for his family."
Example Sentences
"My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"verb
"The slump in the financial markets smashed him"verb
The word bankrupt comes from the Italian bancarotta, which literally means "a broken bench." This term originally described a moneylender who had become insolvent and closed their business by smashing their counting table.