dilapidating

Definition of dilapidatingnext
present participle of dilapidate
See the Dictionary Definition 

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dilapidating
Verb
  • The meteor was moving southwest at 30,000 miles per hour and traveled 117 miles through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating 27 miles above the town of Galloway north of Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to NASA.
    Kate Perez, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Last year, the Dominican Republic deported more than 100,000 Haitians back to their disintegrating country.
    George Packer, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • From a nearby dumpster there came the sweet and musty smell of decomposing seafood.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
  • The moist interior of pipes can harbor decomposing food, attracting fruit flies from the kitchen itself.
    Anne Wolf, Martha Stewart, 13 May 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • 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, Boston Herald, 1 May 2026
Verb
  • Hard bounces and dormant subscribers inflate your headline number while quietly degrading the quality of the asset underneath.
    Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • Thinking otherwise, Daly said, runs the risk of degrading human existence.
    Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 14 May 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
  • The mounting costs of Putin’s war on Ukraine have contributed to the nation’s shift, as Russians grapple with higher inflation, more taxes, crumbling infrastructure, tighter censorship, and myriad new restrictions.
    Jason Ma, Fortune, 16 May 2026
  • The final sentence feels apt given that Starmer’s Labour administration is crumbling.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 15 May 2026
Verb
  • Section Two of the Voting Rights Act was written to prevent diminishing the voting power of racial minorities by packing them into one district or spreading them out across many districts.
    Sarah Clifton, USA Today, 16 May 2026
  • Getty Images The Philadelphia Phillies have kept many of the same players on the roster since the team’s 2022 run all the way to the World Series, though the returns have been diminishing.
    Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • Meanwhile, the Pima County Sheriff Office investigating Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is facing troubles of its own, as a former sheriff has accused current leadership of ‘corrupting’ the crime scene, and a deputy has been arrested and fired on a kidnapping charge.
    Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dilapidating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dilapidating. Accessed 23 May. 2026.

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