broken-down

[broh-kuhn-doun]

adjective

1. shattered or collapsed, as with age; infirm.

2. having given way with use or age; out of working order.

   a broken-down chair.

broken-down

adjective

1. worn out, as by age or long use; dilapidated

   a broken-down fence

2. not in working order

   a broken-down tractor

3. physically or mentally ill

Word History and Origins

Origin of broken-down¹

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

There was the Picasso of late-19th-century realism; the Picasso of angular, broken-down Cubist shapes; the Picasso of playfully deformed portraits.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

People have been evacuated from a broken-down Eurostar train in northern France after waiting nearly four hours for help, passengers have told the BBC.

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Why trade away Reaves in the prime of his career and keep a broken-down LeBron James? 2025-2026 will probably be his last season.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These are not akin to the crude barracks used to house the Mexican guest workers known as braceros decades ago, nor are they the broken-down trailers associated with abuses of the H-2A program.

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"He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs," Sesa said.

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Related Words

• battered 
• decrepit 
• ramshackle 
• run down