/ Thesaurus / P Synonyms of public debt Find synonyms for: Noun1. public debt, debtusage: the total of the nation's debts: debts of local and state and national governments; an indicator of how much public spending is financed by borrowing instead of taxationWordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Related Content Daily Word Quiz: rustic Analogy of the Day: Today’s Analogy Spelling Bee: Today’s Spelling Bee Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language