overleveraged en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English leveraged English overleveraged From over- + leveraged.
Meanings
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Subject to excessive leverage (debt).
If there is one axiom of today's Pigovian pessimism it is the idea that after decades of decadent reliance on debt to goose up consumption, US consumers are structurally over leveraged. And that it may take a decade or more of pain to unwind the damage, during which time US consumption and GDP growth will be pitifully slow.
2009 December 2, Derek Thompson, “Are US Consumers Really Over Leveraged?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2025:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| over-leveraged | alternative | lexicographic | |
| most overleveraged | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more overleveraged | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |