From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbad debtˌbad ˈdebt noun [countable] OWEa debt that is unlikely to be paid
Examples from the Corpus
bad debt• Profits in 1992 were bolstered by a fall in bad debt provisions to £676 million.• Foreign sellers have led the charge, frantically dumping stocks of banks burdened with mountains of bad debt, according to analysts.From Longman Business Dictionarybad debtˌbad ˈdebt [countable, uncountable]FINANCE a debt that will probably never be paid, and is therefore worthless to the person or company that is owed the moneyBad debts caused by the last recession wiped out the bank’s operating profit this year.The company has been reluctant to write off bad debts (=accept that they will never be paid). → debt 