ramshackle

[ram-shak-uhl]

adjective

1. loosely made or held together; rickety; shaky.

   a ramshackle house.

   Synonyms: flimsy, derelict, dilapidated

ramshackle

/ ˈræmˌʃækəl /

adjective

1. (esp of buildings) badly constructed or maintained; rickety, shaky, or derelict

Other Word Forms

• ramshackleness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ramshackle¹

1815–25; compare earlier rans(h)ackled, obscurely akin to ransack

Word History and Origins

Origin of ramshackle¹

C17 ramshackled , from obsolete ransackle to _ransack

Example Sentences

Performers are robed and instruments are carried on ramshackle wheelbarrows, setting up the transitory mood of the night.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead of taking us inside ramshackle houses and down cold streets, we swim with Robbie and Maeve at the local quarry, their small piece of paradise, and walk through its woods.

From Salon

The ramshackle structures that survive — often with missing roofs and walls, and stairs leading nowhere — have little in common, save for their shambolic, ad hoc construction designed less for permanence than speed and low price.

From Los Angeles Times

The Dreadnaught was — well, you’ve eaten there, or someplace like it: a big, old, ramshackle driftwood pile, built out over the water on ancient wooden pylons.

From Salon

The areas being searched are close to a ramshackle dwelling where Brückner lived at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

From BBC

Related Words

• broken-down 
• crumbling www.thesaurus.com
• decrepit 
• derelict 
• dilapidated 
• flimsy 
• rickety 
• shabby