subprime

See also: sub-prime

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *upó

Proto-Italic *supo

Latin sub

Latin sub-der.

English sub-

English prime

English subprime

From sub- + prime.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.pɹʌɪm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.pɹaɪm/

Adjective

subprime (not comparable)

1. Less than prime; inferior.

   Antonym: superprime

   subprime beef

2. (US, banking, now worldwide) Designating a loan (typically at a greater than usual rate of interest) offered to a borrower who is not qualified for other loans (for example, because of a poor credit history).
   • 2014 April 5, Alex Preston, “Flash Boys: Cracking the Money Code by Michael Lewis, review: Michael Lewis tells the compelling true story of one man’s mission to tame Wall Street [print version: Capital ventures]”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[1], London, archived from the original on 8 April 2014, page R26:

     Central to the story was Steve Eisman, an eccentric and rebarbative hedge-funder who was one of the earliest to see through the subprime lies.

3. (US, banking, dated) Designating a type of commercial lending rate, less than the prime rate, offered to desirable borrowers.

See also

• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Noun

subprime (plural subprimes)

1. A subprime loan.

Further reading

• subprime on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Spanish

Adjective

subprime m or f (masculine and feminine plural subprimes)

1. subprime