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
- dilapidation noun
- dilapidator noun
Etymology
Origin of dilapidate
1560–70; < Medieval Latin dīlapidātus, past participle of dīlapidāre to squander (compare dīlapidātiō disrepair), Latin: to pelt with stones; 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.
A dilapidated watermill was up for sale after its previous owner, who saved it from demolition in the 1970s, had gone bankrupt.
From BBC
The result was a far cry from the dilapidated state the Carroll Gardens brownstone had been in when Harbour and Allen purchased it.
From MarketWatch
Reviving Venezuela’s dilapidated oil infrastructure will be a challenge, and some U.S. energy companies may not want to get involved.
Meanwhile, the dilapidated Venezuelan oil sector will need tens of billions of dollars of investment from those same companies, and would take years to revive in the best-case scenario.
Billions of investment is needed to bring the Venezeuela’s dilapidated infrastructure back online, and analysts say it could take years before there’s a meaningful increase in production of the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
From Barron's
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.
