installment debt
- noun
- /ɪnˈstɔlmənt dɛt/
- Specialized
- She reduced her installment debt by making extra payments each month.
- consumer installment debt
Examples
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Paying off installment debt consistently can help improve your credit score.
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Many people have installment debt in the form of car loans or personal loans.
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She took on an installment debt to buy her new car.
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Many people struggle with installment debts each month.
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Many people find it challenging to manage their installment debt due to rising interest rates.
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Consolidating your installment debt can help you lower your monthly payments and save on interest.
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Before applying for a loan, it's important to know how much installment debt you currently have.
Synonyms
∞
2.6
An amount of money that you owe to someone
1
3.9
A loan you repay with regular equal payments over time
A loan you repay in equal regular payments with interest that people often use to buy a car or furniture
Antonyms
- Specialized
16
3.7
A single large payment that you get all at once instead of in smaller parts
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'installment' (a scheduled partial payment) modifies 'debt' (an amount owed), yielding a debt repaid by installments. This noun-noun combination follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Installment debt comes from the idea of a large cost broken into small installments, little 'parts' you pay over time, and debt is the money you owe, so the phrase means owing money you repay with regular 'payments'.