Technical debt refers to the concept in software development where compromises or shortcuts are made during the development process in order to meet tight deadlines or release a product quickly. These shortcuts can lead to the accumulation of "debt" that must be paid off later by going back and fixing or refactoring code to maintain or improve the quality of the software. Technical debt can slow down future development, increase maintenance costs, and make it more difficult to add new features or make changes to the software. It is important for developers and teams to address technical debt in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and maintainability of their software products.