Log in or Sign up

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An unpaid, overdue debt or an unfulfilled obligation.
  2. n. The state of being behind in fulfilling obligations: an account in arrears.

Wiktionary

  1. n. An unpaid or overdue obligation. A debt.
  2. n. Plural form of arrear.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the state of being behind in payments
  2. n. an unpaid overdue debt

Etymologies

  1. Middle English arrers, from arrere, behind, from Old French arere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retrō, backward : Latin ad, to; see ad- + Latin retrō, behind; see re- in Indo-European roots.

Examples

Show 10 more examples...

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘arrears’.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • jwjarvis there was a persistent need to grapple with appeals from individuals who had fallen in arrears. Sep 14, 2010

  • chained_bear No. Aug 20, 2008

  • super-logos c-b, does this word chafe your ass? Aug 20, 2008

‘arrears’ has been looked up 1805 times, loved by 1 person, added to 22 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.