dilapidated
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nondilapidated adjective
- undilapidated adjective
Etymology
Origin of dilapidated
First recorded in 1800–10; dilapidate + -ed 2
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.
Beneath moss-covered cinder blocks, dilapidated stone markers, and a handful of headstones, more than 200 children who died in state custody between the 1870s and 1930s are buried.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026
If he really cares about the latter, he wouldn’t bar tenants in the city’s dilapidated public housing from airing complaints at his hearings on “rental ripoffs,” as the New York Post reported this week.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
But it’s here, in places like the dust-swept grouping of cinder-block houses and dilapidated buildings that make up Al Kawd, where the real-world impact of those cuts can be most clearly felt.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026
And because of the dilapidated state of the property, it's already been indicated that he won't get any money back from his original investment.
From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026
Narrow, dilapidated buildings stand right in the middle of the street, while some doors leading into buildings hang upside down, as if impossible to get into.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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.
