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.
Destroyed by bombing during the Israeli invasion in 1982 and rebuilt after the end of the civil war in 1990, it has fallen into disrepair due to a lack of funds for its upkeep.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
During the 1970s, a difficult period for Mobile, Battle House fell into disrepair and closed its doors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Around him were additional signs of disrepair: an X-ray examination board without a functioning backlight, and a dust-covered ultraviolet sterilization machine that hadn’t worked in months.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026
Abir Saksouk, co-founder of research and design firm Public Works Studio, said authorities had allowed buildings to fall into disrepair and noted a lack of oversight and legislative gaps.
From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026
Without her mockery, affection for others sank into flaccid disrepair.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
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.
