dilapidate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause or allow (a building, automobile, etc.) to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect (often used passively).
The house had been dilapidated by neglect.
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Archaic. to squander; waste.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dilapidate
1560–70; < Medieval Latin dīlapidātus, past participle of dīlapidāre to squander (compare dīlapidātiō disrepair), Latin: to pelt with stones; see di- 2, lapidate
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.
See Examples For:
The Victorian houses that line the avenues have been allowed to dilapidate.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2015
They were not such as I could combat; and I am driven to dilapidate the funds of my own country by a theft.
From Prince Otto, a Romance by Robert Louis Stevenson
Buffets and gyves from your effete Old monarchy dilapidate, Or freedom's laurels for thy brow?
From Poems Vol. IV by Hattie Howard
They were too prone to dilapidate and destroy their dwellings; they were therefore required to pay for the locks, cupboards, and doors.
From The History of Tasmania , Volume II by John West
They were not such as I could combat; and I am driven to dilapidate the funds of my own country by a theft.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 7 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
The dilapidated building burned in another fire in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Wolfingers bought a dilapidated feedlot in 2010, which they have turned into a sophisticated operation with 5,500 cattle.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Many residents here say they can’t wait for American investors to arrive and start plowing money into rebuilding the country’s dilapidated oil infrastructure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The protests started in late September with students blocking entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds over complaints of dilapidated facilities and teacher shortages.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
After a long day out in the world, families returned to their dilapidated homes.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
The lamp, standing alone in the midst of confusion, suffered a partial eclipse; and my favourite Dublin meerschaum successfully resisted the dilapidating effect of a fall of several feet.
From Canada for Gentlemen by James Seaton Cockburn
In Ireland, deserted and betrayed, it has received a dilapidating shock.
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson
One book, and that the most read of all, was hedged by a sort of divinity which protected it, so far as that was practicable, from the dilapidating effects of use.
From The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author by John Hill Burton
Winnepeg, the much talked of Capital of the West, is simply dilapidating, and as far west as Regina living is high and wages low.
From Canada for Gentlemen by James Seaton Cockburn
As science, however, truly considered, is the art of dilapidating and merging into confused ruin the theories of your predecessors, I was somewhat more precise with the destructive than the constructive part of my plan.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873 by Various
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