tumbledown

adjective

tum·​ble·​down ˈtəm-bəl-ˈdau̇n How to pronounce tumbledown (audio)
: dilapidated, ramshackle
a tumbledown house at the edge of townSherwood Anderson

Examples of tumbledown in a Sentence

lived alone on a tumbledown farm that had seen better days
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
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 All except a few dozen hardy souls who formed the historical society and began patching the scars of this tumbledown town. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 22 Mar. 2024 See All Example Sentences for tumbledown

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tumbledown was in 1818

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Cite this Entry

“Tumbledown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tumbledown. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

tumbledown

adjective
tum·​ble·​down ˌtəm-bəl-ˌdau̇n How to pronounce tumbledown (audio)
: dilapidated
a tumbledown shack
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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