dilapidated 1 of 2

adjective

də-ˈla-pə-ˌdā-təd How to pronounce dilapidated (audio)
Definition of dilapidatednext
as in neglected
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect a dilapidated car that had seen better days

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

dilapidated

2 of 2

verb

past tense of dilapidate
as in degraded

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 dilapidated
Adjective
Sixteen children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in wretched conditions with human waste all around, confined to just one room over much of the past four years, authorities said Wednesday. — CBS News, 1 July 2026 The parents and grandparents of 16 children found living in a dilapidated house in southern Ohio were arraigned Wednesday on more than a dozen felony child endangerment charges, officials said. — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 1 July 2026 His apartment was on the ground floor of a clapboard building along a block of dilapidated homes surrounded by overgrown weeds. — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026 Unable to pay rent, the boys moved several hours away to the small, dilapidated house with the leaky roof where rent is minimal. — Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 18 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for dilapidated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidated
  1. neglected
  2. degraded
  3. abandoned
  4. decomposed
  5. desolate
  6. corrupted
  7. miserable
  8. disintegrated
Adjective
  • Investors and analysts are increasingly looking to other parts of the market, both to find neglected sources of value and to start assuming a defensive posture against a possible downturn.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 16 July 2026
  • Changing their environment is more reliable and more neglected.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of neglected
Verb
  • Iran has been degraded by over 13,000 strikes, but has survived and reconstituted, rather than suffering a mortal blow.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Preserving the forests that remain, while restoring those that have been degraded, may ultimately prove far more valuable than chasing ever-larger tree-planting targets alone.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026
Definition of degraded
Adjective
  • According to the gallery, the 25-minute film is set in a semi-abandoned hotel near Tokyo and reimagines the Greek myth of the goddess Persephone’s abduction by Hades.
    — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 16 June 2026
  • The city has been overwhelmed in recent years by an influx of abandoned and stray dogs and puppies.
    — Alyce McFadden, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of abandoned
Verb
  • Remains of dogs too decomposed to be recovered were also found in the same field, the sheriff's office said.
    — Jose Fabian, CBS News, 27 June 2026
  • Every project should be decomposed into tasks, with explicit categorization of which are human, AI or hybrid.
    — Manu Khetan, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
Definition of decomposed
Adjective
  • However desolate Mars may appear from afar, there is certainly no shortage of activity on its surface — or discoveries still waiting to be made.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 17 July 2026
  • Despite the property damage, the New Jersey meteorite fragments are a rare reminder that asteroids aren’t always desolate, inert rocks.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 15 July 2026
Definition of desolate
Verb
  • The unsightly mushroom could have corrupted her maids’ morals, or even their health.
    — Leah Hudson, Popular Science, 9 July 2026
  • If religion is corrupted by breaking down the wall of separation, much the same is true of the state.
    — Kenneth Seeskin, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of corrupted
Adjective
  • The story of Superman’s young cousin never achieved liftoff, brought down by miserable reviews and a lack of familiarity with Krypton’s far less famous refugee.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 16 July 2026
  • Spurs evolved from a side who did not press well and could not progress the ball through the middle of the pitch through Frank’s miserable period and Tudor’s hapless interlude, to a side who tried to do exactly those things.
    — Elias Burke, New York Times, 13 July 2026
Definition of miserable
Verb
  • In the fifth century CE, the western half of the Roman Empire disintegrated into a patchwork of new kingdoms and new rulers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 June 2026
  • The meteor — which is thought to be a small chunk of a much larger asteroid — was probably too small and traveled too fast to survive atmospheric entry and instead disintegrated entirely, leaving no parts of it to fall to the ground in the form of meteorites.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 16 June 2026
Definition of disintegrated

Browse Nearby Words

dilapidate
dilapidated
dilapidates
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Dilapidated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidated. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on dilapidated

Nglish: Translation of dilapidated for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of raffish

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All