bankrupt
/ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/
"bankrupt" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bankrupt” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,654 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,654
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations; specifically, having been legally declared insolvent.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bankrupt |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #10,654 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bankrupt” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bankrupt is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,654 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for bankrupt, with forms such as "abnkrupt", "baknrupt", and "bankkrupt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "bankruptcy", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Partial calque of Italian bancarotta (literally “a broken bench”), from banca (“bank”, literally “bench”) + rotta (“broken, rupted”), which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken, signifying that the working moneylender was in… The correct English form is bankrupt, spelled B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T.
Definition
- 1In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations; specifically, having been legally declared insolvent.
- 2Destitute of, or wholly lacking a good quality, value, etc. one should possess or once possessed.
Etymology
Partial calque of Italian bancarotta (literally “a broken bench”), from banca (“bank”, literally “bench”) + rotta (“broken, rupted”), which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken, signifying that the working moneylender was insolvent.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abnkrupt,baknrupt,bankkrupt,bankrput,bankrrupt,bankruppt,bankruptt,bankrutp,bankurpt,bannkrupt,banrkupt,bbankrupt,bnakrupt
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bankrupt - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "bankrupt"?
What does "bankrupt" mean?
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Using “bankrupt”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bankruptcy” - see the side-by-side comparison. bankrupt vs bankruptcy
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.