as in abandoned
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
She earns her living buying ramshackle homes, restoring them, and selling them at a profit.
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Recent Examples of ramshackle
Most of the rigs are older, ramshackle models, but here and there shiny coaches broadcast the relative wealth of their inhabitants—techies who could afford an apartment but don’t want to waste their money on rent.
—
Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025
Advertisement Wright has made some charming and entertaining pictures, among them the ramshackle zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, from 2004, and a delightful 2021 documentary, The Sparks Brothers, about brothers Ron and Russell Mael, otherwise known as the art-pop duo Sparks.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Nov. 2025
Akın Balık Akın Balık, a seemingly ramshackle restaurant, comes alive at night, glittering with strings of lights and lanterns.
—Katie Nadworny, Travel + Leisure, 8 Nov. 2025
White’s performance of the song on Austin City Limits in 1980, which was eventually released as the album Live in Austin, TX, is a ramshackle revelation.
—Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ramshackle
Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025
Advertisement Wright has made some charming and entertaining pictures, among them the ramshackle zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, from 2004, and a delightful 2021 documentary, The Sparks Brothers, about brothers Ron and Russell Mael, otherwise known as the art-pop duo Sparks.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Nov. 2025
Akın Balık Akın Balık, a seemingly ramshackle restaurant, comes alive at night, glittering with strings of lights and lanterns.
—Katie Nadworny, Travel + Leisure, 8 Nov. 2025
White’s performance of the song on Austin City Limits in 1980, which was eventually released as the album Live in Austin, TX, is a ramshackle revelation.
—Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ramshackle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ramshackle
Adjective
-
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
-
Rogers is shopworker Polly Parrish, who gets mistakenly identified as the parent of an abandoned baby.—
Gwen Ihnat,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Nick is a young father, struggling to make ends meet in his tumbledown home and feeding his family from foodbank donations.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
30 Aug. 2025
-
Opened in 1935 as a barbecue market in a tumbledown former Lebanese grocery near the Fort Worth Stockyards, Joe T.’s now serves up to 2,000 diners at once across seven city blocks of dining and parking.—
Bud Kennedy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
This Milwaukee program takes dilapidated houses, acquired by the city through property tax foreclosure, and rehabs them for new home buyers.—
Steven Martinez,
jsonline.com,
1 Mar. 2026
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Such as dilapidated neighborhoods, toxic air, unkept public parks, failing infrastructure, unreliable public transportation and low wages.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
And third, after years of gerrymandering and Republican consolidation of power, the Democratic turnout machine is exceedingly rickety.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
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They will now be soldered together to form a financially rickety public hospital system.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The films arrived in deteriorated condition, with about 10 reels that had been shuttled from basements to barns to garages.—
Eric Henderson,
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
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The cheaper real estate solution would typically be to tear down a deteriorated structure, Matthews told The News.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ramshackle. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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