Delinquent

How to spell delinquent

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce delinquent

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delinquent mean?

1. adjectiveFailing to do what duty or law requires, especially being overdue in payment or guilty of minor wrongdoing.
2. nounA person who repeatedly breaks the law or fails to meet an obligation, often a young offender.

Delinquent in a sentence

• adjective

  The bank flagged her credit card as delinquent after three missed payments.

• noun

  The youth worker spent years helping each young delinquent rebuild a normal life.

• adjective

  A delinquent tenant who ignored every rent reminder finally faced eviction.

• noun

  As a teenager he was branded a delinquent for skipping school and shoplifting.

Where does delinquent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb delinquere, which meant 'to fail, to be at fault, to do wrong', built from the prefix de-, used here as an intensifier, and linquere, meaning 'to leave' or 'to abandon'. The underlying sense was of someone who leaves their duty undone, a neat image for a person who fails to do what they ought. The present participle delinquens, with its stem delinquent-, gave English the form we still use, and it entered the language in the late 1400s, first describing failure in a moral or legal duty. By the nineteenth century it had attached itself firmly to unpaid debts and to youthful misbehaviour, giving us phrases like 'juvenile delinquent' and 'delinquent account'. The same Latin linquere is a relative of words like 'relinquish' and 'relic', and remembering that hidden 'qu' (from linquere) is the key to spelling the awkward middle of the word.

How the word is built

• de- (away, completely)
• linqu (root of linquere: to leave)
• -ent (adjective/noun suffix)