tumbledown
adjective
tum·ble·down
ˈtəm-bəl-ˈdau̇n 
: dilapidated, ramshackle
… a small hut of earth squeezed between other tumbledown houses on a filthy street …—
Grace Lin
Grace LinExamples of tumbledown in a Sentence
lived alone on a tumbledown farm that had seen better days
Recent Examples on the Web
Nick is a young father, struggling to make ends meet in his tumbledown home and feeding his family from foodbank donations.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2025
Opened in 1935 as a barbecue market in a tumbledown former Lebanese grocery near the Fort Worth Stockyards, Joe T.’s now serves up to 2,000 diners at once across seven city blocks of dining and parking.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 June 2025
That technical change increases the likelihood that a congregation of a tumbledown church might raise the money to unlock more housing and at the same time fix up their building — without simply selling it for scrap.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 27 June 2025
Its setting is a tumbledown farm in Kentucky in 1910, the home of the soft-spoken, musically minded Lionel Worthing (Mescal), who has grown up obsessed with regional folk music.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tumbledown
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Damon Wise, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2025
Opened in 1935 as a barbecue market in a tumbledown former Lebanese grocery near the Fort Worth Stockyards, Joe T.’s now serves up to 2,000 diners at once across seven city blocks of dining and parking.
—Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 June 2025
That technical change increases the likelihood that a congregation of a tumbledown church might raise the money to unlock more housing and at the same time fix up their building — without simply selling it for scrap.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 27 June 2025
Its setting is a tumbledown farm in Kentucky in 1910, the home of the soft-spoken, musically minded Lionel Worthing (Mescal), who has grown up obsessed with regional folk music.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tumbledown
Cite this Entry
“Tumbledown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tumbledown. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tumbledown
adjective
tum·ble·down
ˌtəm-bəl-ˌdau̇n
: dilapidated
a tumbledown shack
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share