If a country, a company, or sometimes a family is debt-ridden, they owe so much money that they can barely breathe. The bills have taken over. They may still be open, still paying a little, but they cannot clear what they owe, and more debt often piles on. News writers love this word for governments and firms; it sounds heavier than in debt. A student with a small card bill is in debt; a debt-ridden city cannot pay its workers. Though actually, people do use it of a person whose whole life is loans, not only of countries. The -ridden piece means “weighed down by” or “full of.”