dilapidate

verb

Definition of dilapidatenext
as in to putrefy

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of dilapidate At the center of the woods, off Haven Beach Road, was a solitary and dilapidated Colonial homestead that burned to the ground. — Bree Sposato, Travel + Leisure, 28 Apr. 2023 Hamdok found that the legacy of 30 years of dictatorship meant that Sudan’s political and economic models were dilapidated. — Justin Lynch, CNN, 17 Apr. 2023 The initial goal was to repair and renovate it; however, this proved to be impossible as the original structure was too dilapidated. — Kimberley Mok, Treehugger, 28 Mar. 2023 The towers would replace a four-acre debris heap where the famed but dilapidated Deauville Beach Resort from the 1950s sat until courts ordered it to be imploded. — Mark Bisnow, Fortune, 27 Mar. 2023 See All Example Sentences for dilapidate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidate
  1. putrefy
  2. decompose
  3. disintegrate
  4. corrupt
  5. degrade
  6. diminish
  7. recede
  8. downsize
Verb
  • Repeating the experiment with other plants, including tomatoes and wheat, yielded similar results—but an encounter with putrefying animal tissues had no effect.
    — Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2026
  • East of Eden is a tome obsessed with guilt, sin, ambition, race, the land as healing and capitalism as putrefying, the nature of fate and the question of free will, and the role money and inheritance play in either our corruption or our cleansing.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of putrefy
Verb
  • Loggers found the teenagers’ decomposing bodies in the forest, one of them tied to a tree with electrical wire, prosecutors said.
    — Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Fall leaves create a natural mulch, which helps suppress weeds and improves the soil with organic matter as the leaves decompose.
    — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of decompose
Verb
  • Last time Brooklyn took the court, its offense had disintegrated into an 11-point fourth quarter against the Knicks.
    — C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The trends observed in this article may not completely disintegrate the value created by AI.
    — Tomas Milar, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of disintegrate
Verb
  • Vietnam, in his telling, had corrupted the very purpose that gave American power its meaning.
    — David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The attacker may have started corrupting data days or weeks ago.
    — Jim McGann, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of corrupt
Verb
  • For daily commuting, these units degrade more slowly when owners avoid charging them to 100%.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Nov. 2026
  • In the intermediate stage sugar molecules are dehydrated and degraded, along with amino acids.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Nov. 2026
Definition of degrade
Verb
  • Except in the extreme, legislators are loath to devalue local autonomy while also prioritizing delivery of state aid to diminish local tax burdens.
    — David Bloomfield, New York Daily News, 1 Nov. 2026
  • While rain chances will diminish, clouds will hang tough through much of the day, and northeast winds will pick up slightly to 5 to 10 mph.
    — Mary Wasson, Austin American Statesman, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of diminish
Verb
  • The clinic treats a meaningful share of women and complex cases — two groups that generally need longer planning conversations, more conservative donor use and a design that accounts for diffuse thinning rather than a classic receding pattern.
    — Burak Onal, Miami Herald, 10 Nov. 2026
  • The old characters recede; new ones take center stage, most notably classmates Pella Affenlicht and Irma Friske.
    — Mariella Rudi, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of recede
Verb
  • The digital equity push, meanwhile, has been downsized as it’s switched to county funding.
    — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Among them, 38 percent cited health problems or disability, while 23 percent pointed to company changes such as downsizing or reorganization.
    — Noor Shikari, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Nov. 2026
Definition of downsize

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Cite this Entry

“Dilapidate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidate. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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