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.
"Swathes of the NHS and social care estate are in disrepair following decades of under-investment and are utterly unprepared for extreme temperatures."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
But around 12,500 places - notably those built during the Victorian era - were closed after falling into disrepair.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
While Nycha apartments fall deeper into disrepair, Mr. Mamdani last month proposed that the agency finance new housing projects across the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Meridian Hill Park notably has a monumental cascading fountain that has been in disrepair for years and only just reopened.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
The disrepair of the house did not bother her at all, the crumbling plaster, the peeling wallpaper, the faded paints or the columns; none of it made any difference.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
