dilapidated
adjective
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Something that is dilapidated may not have been literally pummeled with stones, but it might look that way. Dilapidated derives (via the English verb dilapidate) from dilapidatus, the past participle of the Latin verb dilapidare ("to squander or destroy"). That verb was formed by combining dis-, meaning "apart," with the verb lapidare, meaning "to pelt with stones." Other English descendants of lapidare include the verb lapidate ("to pelt or kill with stones") and the noun lapidary, which is used to refer to a person who cuts or polishes precious stones. Both words share as a root the Latin noun lapis, meaning "stone." We also find lapis in the name lapis lazuli, a bright blue semiprecious stone.
Examples of dilapidated in a Sentence
New Atlas, 6 Sep. 2025
Dayna is unemployed and newly single, and an out-of-the-blue opportunity to fix up a dilapidated mansion into an influencer house seems like her ticket to a new life.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2025
Nearly two weeks after San Jose began dismantling its largest homeless encampment, the city is set to open its first-ever safe sleeping site, which will provide tents for dozens of the approximately 370 residents who have lived in dilapidated RVs and squalor at Columbus Park.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2025
There was a dilapidated beach bungalow on the site, which is about one and a half hours south of Melbourne.
—Mailin Sophie Zieser, Architectural Digest, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dilapidated
Cite this Entry
“Dilapidated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dilapidated. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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