decrepit
Americanadjective
-
weakened by old age; feeble; infirm.
a decrepit man who can hardly walk.
- Antonyms:
- vigorous
-
worn out by long use; dilapidated.
a decrepit stove.
adjective
-
enfeebled by old age; infirm
-
broken down or worn out by hard or long use; dilapidated
Related Words
See weak.
Other Word Forms
- decrepitly adverb
- decrepitness noun
- decrepitude noun
- undecrepit adjective
Etymology
Origin of decrepit
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin dēcrepitus, literally, “broken down,” equivalent to dē- de- + crep(āre) “to crack” + -i- -i- + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
That building falling down on the corner of your block? It's decrepit. So is the old man who lives there, if he is weak from age. Decrepit means broken down by hard use. Decrepit implies that something or someone is a weak, and run down — practically falling apart. It's really not a nice word to use about a person. If you are trying to say the same thing about a person, but more nicely, you might use the word, feeble, which means weak, but not disastrously falling apart.
Vocabulary lists containing decrepit
The Hunger Games
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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The Fault in Our Stars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They loaded salvageable sofas and home appliances onto decrepit blue pickup trucks in the unmistakable 1960s design of local brand Zamyad.
From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026
Cuba produces about 40,000 barrels a day of sulfur- and metals-laden heavy crude that feeds the country’s decrepit power plants.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
For that offense, she was grabbed off the street by a half-dozen plainclothes federal agents and detained for weeks in a decrepit ICE facility, thousands of miles away.
From Salon • Oct. 9, 2025
It is so decrepit that it has served as a post-apocalyptic setting for music videos by stars such as Drake, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2025
But standing there, watching her vanish back into her decrepit cave, I knew what she was telling me wasn’t true.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
