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arrears

arrears

8 8.4
Money that you should have paid earlier but still owe
  • noun
  • /əˈrɪrz/
translation icon : deudas
  • Worse still, the debtors were now falling seriously into arrears on their repayments.
  • wage arrears
  • interest arrears
  • payment of arrears

You're already finding, as we've talked before, loans going into arrears.

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Examples

  • I have paid up for the arrears, and this watch is yours.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I believe your account was in arrears.

  • But you paid your rent arrears off.

  • I'm really sorry, but unless you can pay the arrears in full, the bank has no choice.

  • Last town report said you were in arrears in your taxes, Andy.

  • Even at the club, he was in arrears for locker fees.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I've been in debt for the past eight years and have quite severe arrears on all my utility bills and rent.

    Academic text (2010)
  • You're over $5,000 in arrears on the mortgage.

  • "You are over $8,000 in arrears in back property taxes," said former Mayor Mary Ann Courville.

    Blog text (17)
  • He is currently $1,500 in arrears on his rent payments.

Synonyms

arrearage
vsarrears
  • Specialized
1 9.6

Money you owe because a payment is late

is a general term for owed money or being behind, not only a legal amount

Antonyms

805 1.0

Money given for goods, services, or to settle a debt

259 4.5

An early payment of money you receive before you earn it

Idioms

in arrears
  • Formal
4 7.4

Being late paying money you owe

Surface Forms

arrears plural

Etymology

Arrears comes from an old phrase meaning 'at the rear' or 'at the back' and is related to the common word rear. So, arrears pictures payments that are 'behind' — money that should have been paid earlier but is late.