dilapidating

present participle of dilapidate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidating
Verb
  • Others rot in the California sun, disintegrating into bony fragments.
    Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • The experiments have shown how a self-repair mechanism enables the spindle to stabilize itself under force and avoid disintegrating.
    Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 29 June 2026
Verb
  • About four months after Celeste’s death, her decomposing body was found in the Tesla registered to Burke after it was towed from the Hollywood Hills in September.
    Madeline Morrison, NBC news, 22 July 2026
  • The Science Behind This Tip Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of ripening fruit and decomposing produce.
    Christine Fiorentino, Southern Living, 19 July 2026
Verb
  • Developer John Dewberry is responsible for the site, and has a reputation for leaving half-finished, moldering construction projects in his wake.
    AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 15 July 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • Over the years, old plastic can yellow and become brittle, a sign that the product is degrading and quite literally falling apart.
    Wendy Rose Gould, Martha Stewart, 17 July 2026
  • This helps avoid harming pollinators like bees and prevents the sun from degrading the pesticide or burning the plants.
    Farima Ferguson, The Spruce, 15 July 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
  • But today, its concrete high-rises are crumbling into the sea.
    Kieron Marchese, Architectural Digest, 27 July 2026
  • Sugar’s purpose in this earthly life — to reunite lost families in the City of Angels — is crumbling under the maddening impossibility of convicting a policeman of a crime in a world where the crime is the point.
    Andy Andersen, Vulture, 24 July 2026
Verb
  • Staffs are diminishing as layoffs in the industry remain rampant, as was seen in the ESPN firings this week, and reporters are being tasked with juggling several responsibilities at once.
    Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026
  • At 28 years old, clubs will also factor in his diminishing resale value.
    Laurie Whitwell, New York Times, 21 July 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 29 Jul. 2026.

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