leveraged

adjective

lev·​er·​aged ˈle-və-rijd 

ˈlē-;

ˈlev-rijd,

ˈlēv-

1

: having a high proportion of debt relative to equity

2

of the purchase of a company : made with borrowed money that is secured by the assets of the company bought

a leveraged buyout

Examples of leveraged in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This made the chain attractive to private-equity firm Apollo, which in 2007 staged a leveraged buyout. —Alina Selyukh, NPR, 6 Aug. 2025

As banks like Dimon’s have been forced by regulations to reduce corporate lending, private credit has become a go-to source for everything from leveraged buyouts to business expansions, offering attractive returns but also carrying higher risks. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 16 July 2025

Its parent company, The Blackstone Group, began as a private equity firm that used techniques such as leveraged buyouts to acquire and improve distressed assets. —Carlos Waters, CNBC, 16 July 2025

In Atwater’s view, the most aggressive traders have already moved on to riskier frontiers – digital tokens, leveraged ETFs, prediction markets — while meme stocks have become more of a cultural rerun. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 26 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing leveraged

• leveraged buyout