dilapidating

verb

present participle of dilapidate
as in disintegrating

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidating
  1. disintegrating
  2. decomposing
  3. moldering
  4. degrading
  5. putrefying
  6. crumbling
  7. diminishing
  8. corrupting
Verb
  • Scott’s face, in this shot, is a whole novel, disintegrating into tears before being shored up again, eventually rearranged into something resembling a welcoming smile that teeters on the edge of collapse.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The 110-floor south tower, struck shortly after the north tower by another plane, was disintegrating.
    — Diane Herbst, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of disintegrating
Verb
  • Even poor Maggie the cat — the only living animal in Digger’s house and possibly one of the last living animals in the world — is decomposing in his arms, his sister (Sandra Hüller) says with a shudder.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Her decomposing body was found in a plastic bin more than a year after death.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of decomposing
Verb
  • No less slippery are his matinée-idol looks, which can turn wolfish or ratty on a dime, as if his beauty were moldering away from within.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Getting the rotting food off racks towering six stories high required hundreds of workers in protective suits to dislodge the moldering food.
    — Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of moldering
Verb
  • Germany's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Moscow no longer hopes to win by merely capturing cities, or even by degrading Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
    — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of degrading
Verb
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of putrefying
Verb
  • The book describes trips to the archive, and then off into the ruins of the asylum, which were crumbling and also being turned into condominiums.
    — Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Add the chicken, garlic powder, and chili powder and cook for 6 minutes, crumbling the meat with the back of a spoon or a potato masher (see note below), until browned.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of crumbling
Verb
  • This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf.
    — Hilary Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Choose opportunities that expand your options without diminishing your excellence.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminishing
Verb
  • And by engaging with these powerful militaries, the group reinforced its self-image as a major regional player that was uniquely capable of liberating the Muslim world from corrupting American and Israeli influence.
    — April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupting
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.

Browse Nearby Words

dilapidates
dilapidating
dilapidation
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Cite this Entry

“Dilapidating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidating. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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