insolvent

Definition

A person or business so financially submerged that accountants gave up and lawyers got involved. The point where 'broke' becomes a court-acknowledged legal catastrophe requiring formal government intervention.

Example Usage

The startup became technically insolvent six months into Series A funding—the CEO discovered this during their eviction notice.

Source: Finance and legal terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

haircut

A reduction in the stated value of an asset for the purpose of calculating capital requirements or collateral, because lenders assume you're overstating value (and they're usually right). Not to be confused with what you get at a barbershop, though both can be painful.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

Volatility

How wildly a stock's price swings up and down, which is finance's polite way of saying buckle up. High volatility means your portfolio could be worth a fortune at lunch and a used Honda by dinner. Day traders love it. Cardiologists recommend against it.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

default

The failure to meet financial or contractual obligations on time, or the pre-configured settings in software that nobody bothers to change—both equally problematic in their own ways.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

Related Party Transaction

Business dealings between a company and its insiders, subsidiaries, or affiliates, requiring disclosure because the potential for self-dealing is obvious. It's where conflicts of interest get documented rather than avoided.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

treasury

Where governments and large organizations stash their cash and valuables, or the department responsible for managing all that money. In corporate settings, it's the team that handles cash flow, investments, and debt—basically the company's personal bank manager. Also refers to government bonds, because apparently one word should mean seventeen different things.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

accumulate

To gather, pile up, or grow larger over time—whether it's wealth building your portfolio or technical debt building your migration backlog.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Translate This Term

See “insolvent” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

represent

To proudly showcase and embody where you're from—whether that's your neighborhood, city, crew, or cultural background....