What it means
ورشکستگی (varshekastegi) means bankruptcy, the legal and financial state of being unable to pay debts. It is a pure Persian word built from the prefix ور (var), derived from the older Persian preposition بر (bar, meaning upon or away), and شکستگی (shekastegi), the noun form of شکستن (shekastan), meaning to break. The full word literally conveys a state of being broken away or broken apart, which captures the economic collapse the term describes. It is used in legal contexts for formal insolvency proceedings as well as in everyday speech to describe a business that has failed or a person who has gone broke. The verbal form is ورشکست شدن (varshekast shodan), to go bankrupt.
How to use it
- شرکتشون به ورشکستگی رسید. (sherkateshun be varshekastegi resid.) “Their company reached bankruptcy.”
- بعد از ورشکستگی همه چیزش رو از دست داد. (ba’d az varshekastegi hame chizash ro az dast dâd.) “After bankruptcy he lost everything.”
- دادگاه ورشکستگیش رو اعلام کرد. (dâdgâh varshekastegish ro e’lâm kard.) “The court declared his bankruptcy.”
- اون کارخونه در آستانهی ورشکستگیه. (un kârkhune dar âstâne-ye varshekastegiye.) “That factory is on the verge of bankruptcy.”
Cultural note
Declaring formal bankruptcy in Iran carries significant social stigma beyond the legal consequences, because it is seen as a failure of personal responsibility and can damage the family’s reputation (âberu). Many business owners prefer to negotiate informal debt restructuring with creditors, often through family or community intermediaries, rather than file for legal varshekastegi. The Iranian Commercial Code (ghânun-e tejârat) governs formal insolvency, but the gap between legal procedure and social practice remains wide.