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
Etymology
Origin of dilapidate
1560–70; < Medieval Latin dīlapidātus, past participle of dīlapidāre to squander (compare dīlapidātiō disrepair), Latin: to pelt with stones; see 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.
See Examples For:
The Victorian houses that line the avenues have been allowed to dilapidate.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2015
Hassenfratz dilapidates at home; Dumouriez grumbles and they dilapidate abroad: within the walls there is sinning, and without the walls there is sinning.
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
They were too prone to dilapidate and destroy their dwellings; they were therefore required to pay for the locks, cupboards, and doors.
From The History of Tasmania , Volume II by John West
They were not such as I could combat; and I am driven to dilapidate the funds of my own country by a theft.
From Prince Otto, a Romance by Robert Louis Stevenson
Near this abode, but just beyond the gate, A simple cottage stood, old and dilapidate, The home of a poor weaver.
From Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812. A Drama. and Other Poems. by Sarah Anne Curzon
He was shocked at the dilapidated Soviet-era vehicles he saw during training.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Mohamed Elalfy, president of the Royal College of Opthalmologists, said services in Wales face a "number of long-standing challenges, including dilapidated estates, workforce shortages and poor IT infrastructure".
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
A keen golfer, Trump wants to renovate the municipal course, which he has described as dilapidated, saying it could eventually host major tournaments.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
The dilapidated building burned in another fire in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
“He had to move back,” Yossarian argued in a vain effort to cheer up the glum, barrel-chested Indian, whose well-knit sorrel-red face had degenerated rapidly into a dilapidated, calcareous gray.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
As science, however, truly considered, is the art of dilapidating and merging into confused ruin the theories of your predecessors, I was somewhat more precise with the destructive than the constructive part of my plan.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873 by Various
Winnepeg, the much talked of Capital of the West, is simply dilapidating, and as far west as Regina living is high and wages low.
From Canada for Gentlemen by James Seaton Cockburn
In Ireland, deserted and betrayed, it has received a dilapidating shock.
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson
One book, and that the most read of all, was hedged by a sort of divinity which protected it, so far as that was practicable, from the dilapidating effects of use.
From The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author by John Hill Burton
The lamp, standing alone in the midst of confusion, suffered a partial eclipse; and my favourite Dublin meerschaum successfully resisted the dilapidating effect of a fall of several feet.
From Canada for Gentlemen by James Seaton Cockburn
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