noun
deadbeat
DEHD-beet
noun
1
A person who avoids responsibility, especially someone who fails to pay debts or support their family.
"He was branded a deadbeat after skipping town owing three months' rent."
"She refused to let her ex become a deadbeat dad."
adj
1
Failing to meet financial or family obligations.
"The court chased down deadbeat parents for unpaid child support."
How to Use Deadbeat
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomeone who dodges their responsibilities, especially paying debts or supporting family.
When to use it
Informal and quite harsh — it's a real insult, not a neutral description.
Common pairings
deadbeat dad
deadbeat tenant
notorious deadbeat
Word Forms
deadbeats plural
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He was branded a _____ after skipping town owing three months' rent.
Etymology
From dead plus beat, first used for an exhausted person in the 1820s; the debt-dodger sense emerged around the American Civil War.