disrepair
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of disrepair
Explanation
Disrepair is a state of being damaged or broken, especially because of neglect. Leaving your car in your parents' driveway all winter might result in disrepair. A house in disrepair needs help — it might look shabby, with flaking paint and a crumbling brick porch. This mostly happens when houses aren't being lived in, or when their owners don't have the money for upkeep. An entire city or neighborhood in disrepair feels neglected and even dangerous. The noun disrepair combines the prefix dis-, "do the opposite with repair, "mend or fix," from its Latin root reparare, "restore" or "put back in order."
Vocabulary lists containing disrepair
Donald Trump Inauguration Address- January 20, 2017
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Outcasts United
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The View from Saturday
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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.
After years of disrepair, the once opulent Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino came tumbling down to cheers from onlookers who had all paid $10 to watch the demolition from their cars.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
The Justice Department says the venue is in disrepair and may need to be demolished if the improvements can’t go forward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
However, it fell into disrepair when one of the founders died in 2010 and now the Friends of Newchapel Observatory are hoping to reopen it.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
He insisted that his campaign was aimed at Angelenos angry about how the city was being managed, as evidenced by disrepair of city streets and unchecked homeless encampments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
“London Bridge” might go as far back as the Middle Ages in London, as it describes the disrepair of the famous bridge.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
