ramshackle
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- ramshackleness noun
Etymology
Origin of ramshackle
1815–25; compare earlier rans(h)ackled, obscurely akin to ransack
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.
It is now a ramshackle, seemingly lost-in-time metropolis where residents sit on porches observing the unsteady progress of cars navigating pothole-ridden streets.
From Los Angeles Times
Summed up by Pavlovic as "jangly guitars and chanted layered vocals", it's both richly harmonic and somewhat ramshackle - born of a decision to embrace spontaneity and leave studio mistakes intact.
From BBC
I had asked him why Rajasthan's amber-hued capital - thriving with tourists drawn to its opulent palaces and majestic forts - looked so ramshackle.
From BBC
The visit has the heavy air of obligation — they don’t see Dad very often — and when he clumsily welcomes them into his ramshackle house, pregnant pauses and pursed lips ensue.
From Los Angeles Times
Deployed at the request of Touadera to strengthen a ramshackle military, Wagner fighters have played a key role in ensuring stability in the strategically-located country.
From Barron's
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.
