Basic Details
Word: Indebted
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Owing money to someone; or feeling grateful to someone because of the help they have given you.
Synonyms: grateful, obliged, thankful, beholden
Antonyms: ungrateful
How to Spell Indebted
Syllables: in - debt - ed
Tricky part: The b of debt is silent, so students leave it out and write indeted or indetted. Others double the t after the b. Keep debt whole and add ed.
Watch out for: indetted, indeted, indebtted
Memory tip: Debt is hiding inside: in + debt + ed. Keep the silent b, the same b you never say in doubt.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The farmer was indebted to the moneylender for years.
Example 2: I am indebted to my elder sister, who taught me long division.
Example 3: The town remains indebted to the doctors who stayed during the floods.
Fun Fact
The silent b in debt was added by scholars in the 1500s to make the word look like Latin debitum. Before that, English spelt it dette or det.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
indebtted
a) t
b) d
c) e
d) b
Show answer
a) t. Debt ends in a single t, and adding ed does not double it.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. indebted 2. morgage 3. bankrupcy 4. finanse
a) the state of being unable to pay your debts
b) a loan taken from a bank to buy a house
c) the management of large amounts of money
d) feeling grateful to someone for help they have given
Show answer
d) feeling grateful to someone for help they have given. Indebted is correct; mortgage has a silent t, finance ends in nce and bankruptcy needs a t before cy.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to indebted as used in the sentence:
We are deeply indebted to the volunteers who cleaned the beach after the storm.
a) ungrateful
b) obliged
c) thankful
d) grateful
Show answer
a) ungrateful. Here indebted means full of thanks, so its opposite is ungrateful; the other three mean much the same as indebted.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A country that is heavily indebted ____.
a) owes a lot of money
b) has no government
c) exports only gold
d) has huge savings
Show answer
a) owes a lot of money
2. Which letter in indebted is silent?
a) n
b) d
c) t
d) b
Show answer
d) b
