as in neglected
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
a dilapidated car that had seen better days
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Recent Examples of dilapidated
Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026
Reviving Venezuela’s oil industry would deepen environmental damage in a country already plagued by spills, gas leaks and dilapidated infrastructure, with higher output expected to boost climate emissions and increase spill risks in fragile ecosystems, several experts warned.
—Steven Grattan, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
To find her, Luis becomes embedded with an outlaw band of ravers, who cross the Moroccan desert in huge, dilapidated trucks.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 16 Dec. 2025
This magical island has drawn rich and famous people to its shores, including the late Giorgio Armani, who transformed two dilapidated dammusi into a summer home.
—Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dilapidated
Adjective
Volunteers will spend the morning working on a number of projects downtown, with the potential list including painting the dilapidated former Greyhound Bus station site on Almaden Boulevard and working on the Guadalupe River Park trails.
—Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026
Reviving Venezuela’s oil industry would deepen environmental damage in a country already plagued by spills, gas leaks and dilapidated infrastructure, with higher output expected to boost climate emissions and increase spill risks in fragile ecosystems, several experts warned.
—Steven Grattan, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
To find her, Luis becomes embedded with an outlaw band of ravers, who cross the Moroccan desert in huge, dilapidated trucks.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 16 Dec. 2025
This magical island has drawn rich and famous people to its shores, including the late Giorgio Armani, who transformed two dilapidated dammusi into a summer home.
—Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dilapidated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidated
Adjective
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The department issued heavy fines and ultimately shuttered a neglected building in Denver’s uptown neighborhood last year that was owned by CBZ Management.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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The narrative highlights the growing, unseen populations of lonely and neglected individuals, shedding light on a vital but often ignored aspect of public care.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Infrastructure in Venezuela is severely degraded, and any meaningful revival would likely require more than $100 billion in investment over a decade.—
Amena Bakr,
semafor.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The system degraded exactly as predicted.—
Staff report,
Daily News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The abandoned Westminster Mall has turned into a hotspot for vandalism since shuttering in late 2025, according to police who are attempting to raise awareness about the issue.—
Lesley Marin,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
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Rogers is shopworker Polly Parrish, who gets mistakenly identified as the parent of an abandoned baby.—
Gwen Ihnat,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Ackerman’s remains were significantly decomposed and partially mummified, according to the autopsy report.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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The child's body was decomposed, per the Sheriff's Office.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
26 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
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Tautly written, this first novel by a former criminal lawyer who spent 17 years in the Arctic is a hard look at the desolate lives of people resigned to life in the bleak far north.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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On a tour full of reasons to be miserable, England will leave Australia with at least one ray of light for the future.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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The series centers around Timmy Turner, a miserable 10-year-old whose life improves significantly after he is given two fairy godparents named Wanda and Cosmo.—
Will Harris,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Tracy Anderson believes most people today have had their attention spans hijacked by social media and their perception of beauty corrupted by trends.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
24 Jan. 2026
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His mind is warped, his sense of morality corrupted.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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If your denim is tattered and worn beyond repair, don't worry.—
Heather Bien,
Martha Stewart,
27 Jan. 2026
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Worn Washcloths or Towels Go through all your linens in the bathroom, and discard any that are old, stained, tattered, or smell weird.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dilapidated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidated. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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