subprime

sub- +‎ prime

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌb.pɹʌɪm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsəb.pɹaɪm/

subprime (not comparable)

1. Less than prime; inferior.
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]‎, 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.

• American Dialect Society's Word of the Year (2007)

subprime (plural subprimes)

1. A subprime loan.

• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year