Meaning & use
profile IOU
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformal
An informal record of a debt between two people, often kept on a social media profile or app, showing who owes what.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a profile IOU' or 'profile IOUs'.
Patterns
- a profile IOU for something
- keep a profile IOU
- owe someone a profile IOU
After I paid for her concert ticket, she added a profile IOU to her bio so everyone could see she owed me.
He keeps a profile IOU on his Instagram story to track small bets with friends.
The group uses profile IOUs to remember who paid for dinner last time.
nouncountableinformal
A public, informal promise made on someone's online profile to pay back a favor or money.
Grammar: Often used in digital or social media contexts.
Patterns
- post a profile IOU
- a profile IOU to someone
She posted a profile IOU to her brother after he lent her his car.
A profile IOU is not a legal document; it's just a friendly reminder.
Word forms
| plural | profile IOUs |
|---|
Common combinations
- keep a profile IOU
- I keep a profile IOU for every friend who owes me money.
- post a profile IOU
- He posted a profile IOU after losing a bet.
- profile IOU for
- She has a profile IOU for the lunch I bought her.
- pay off a profile IOU
- He finally paid off his profile IOU by buying me coffee.
Synonyms and how they differ
- IOU
- IOU is the general term for a written promise to pay; profile IOU specifically appears on a social media profile.
Commonly confused: profile IOU or profile picture?
profile IOU vs profile picture
A profile picture is an image on your account, while a profile IOU is a note about a debt.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'profile IOU' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A profile IOU is an informal debt record on a social media profile, so saying he left one about owing $20 fits. Option 0 confuses it with a profile picture; option 2 is a formal financial document; option 3 is about account security.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “profile IOU”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.