dilapidating

present participle of dilapidate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidating
Verb
  • Right now, the rings furthest from the planet are disintegrating and drifting into space.
    David M. Drucker, Twin Cities, 31 May 2026
  • The damage from our disintegrating democracy demands attention — and now.
    Elizabeth Keifer, Hartford Courant, 29 May 2026
Verb
  • Officials warned that decomposing fish could create potential health hazards for visitors entering the area or attempting to fish.
    Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
  • That’s different from most other types of maggots, which feed on decomposing flesh.
    Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 9 June 2026
Verb
  • They were set in crumbling castles and moldering dungeons—that is, amid the rubble of a collapsing social order.
    Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
  • The spooky environs created by production designer Til Frohlich are the stuff nightmares are made of; the murky bathtub, moldering linens and secret compartments that go bump in the night.
    Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 2 May 2026
Verb
  • The country’s ministry of culture and sports set out a series of rules and regulations which included no pyro, no face paint and no shouting of words that could be degrading towards any person on the field, not even the referee.
    Tim Spiers, New York Times, 10 June 2026
  • The bones also were coated with a light layer of minerals from the surrounding seawater, which may have prevented them from degrading.
    ABC News, ABC News, 10 June 2026
Verb
  • Because lose-lose situations are so endemic to the genre, a hint of relief can sometimes accompany the prospect of surrender to the putrefying mob.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • If the grout is crumbling, cracked, or permanently discolored, replacing it may be the best solution.
    Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 10 June 2026
  • In the background, in the doorway of a crumbling stone building, stands a tiny, faceless figure, her arms held neatly behind her back.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
Verb
  • The delay also would push the removal into the middle of the night, diminishing the audience watching the event in person or on TV.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 12 June 2026
  • Once the scene resurfaced online some ten years later, internet users leveraged the phrase as a way to distinguish those who were musically superior (who had the range) and those who were not, diminishing them regardless of their popularity.
    Dr. Marcus Collins, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Verb
  • Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
    CBS News, CBS News, 31 May 2026
  • An early discussion about social contracts comes down to us in Plato’s dialogue Crito in which Socrates, condemned to death for allegedly corrupting the youth, refused an offer to escape from prison.
    George G. Szpiro, Big Think, 9 Apr. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Dilapidating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidating. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.

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