solvent

solvent — adjective

1. having enough money or assets to pay everything you owe to other people or organ

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

having enough money or assets to pay everything you owe to other people or organisations, especially when referring to a company or business

Example

Nikhil's company stayed solvent by carefully managing its expenses during the crisis.

collocation: stay solvent

The bank will only lend money to businesses that are solvent and well-managed.

predicative: be solvent

Common collocations
  • stay solvent
  • remain solvent
  • become solvent
  • financially solvent
  • barely solvent
Synonyms
  • financially stable

    broader term; implies overall financial health, not just debt-covering ability

  • in the black

    informal; means making a profit, which is related but not identical

  • creditworthy

    focuses on ability to be trusted with loans, a narrower financial assessment

Antonyms
  • insolvent

    direct opposite; unable to pay debts owed

  • bankrupt

    legally declared unable to pay debts, a more severe status

Grammar Patterns

be + solvent

remain + solvent

become + solvent

Usage Note

Most commonly used predicatively (the company is solvent). Attributive use before a noun (a solvent company) is less common but acceptable in financial writing. The opposite is insolvent.

Common Mistakes

The chemical is solvent in water.
The chemical is soluble in water.
'solvent' as an adjective describes a person or business that can pay debts, not a substance that dissolves.

solvent — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These all relate to positive financial standing but differ in scope. Solvent is the most precise: it means assets equal or exceed debts — you can pay what you owe. Financially stable is broader, covering steady income, manageable debt, and long-term viability; a company can be solvent but not stable if it has just enough to scrape by. In the black is an informal idiom from bookkeeping (black ink for profit) meaning the business is profitable, which is related — a profitable company is usually solvent, but a solvent company might not be profitable (it could still break even or just cover debts). Creditworthy focuses on loan eligibility: a bank's assessment that you are likely to repay. A person can be solvent yet have poor credit history, making them not creditworthy. Example: 'The bakery was in the black for the first time, but the owner knew they were only barely solvent and not yet creditworthy enough for a larger loan.'

solvent ↗financially stablein the blackcreditworthy

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • stay solvent
  • remain solvent
  • become solvent
  • keep solvent
  • use as a solvent
  • act as a solvent

Prepositions

  • as a solvent (for)
  • solvent (in financial sense) — not used with prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'solvent' comes from Latin 'solventem', the present participle of 'solvere', meaning 'to loosen, untie, release, dissolve, or pay'. This single Latin root gave English two distinct but related meanings: the financial sense ('able to pay') grew from the idea of 'releasing from debt', while the chemical sense ('a substance that dissolves') grew from the idea of 'loosening or breaking apart'. The word entered English through Old French in the 16th century.