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• run-down
  run-down

  adjective

  fatigued; weary; exhausted.
• run down
  run down

  verb

  to cause or allow (an engine, battery, etc) to lose power gradually and cease to function or (of an engine, battery, etc) to do this

run-down

American  

[ruhn-doun] / ˈrʌnˈdaʊn /

adjective

1. fatigued; weary; exhausted.

2. in a state of poor health.

   He was in a run-down condition from months of overwork.

3. in neglected condition; fallen into disrepair.

   a run-down house.

   Synonyms:

   shabby, tacky, seedy

4. (of a spring-operated device) not running because it is unwound.

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run down British  

verb

1. to cause or allow (an engine, battery, etc) to lose power gradually and cease to function or (of an engine, battery, etc) to do this

2. to decline or reduce in number or size

   the firm ran down its sales force

3. (tr, usually passive) to tire, sap the strength of, or exhaust

   he was thoroughly run down and needed a holiday

4. (tr) to criticize adversely; denigrate; decry

5. (tr) to hit and knock to the ground with a moving vehicle

6. nautical

   1. (tr) to collide with and cause to sink

   2. (intr, preposition) to navigate so as to move parallel to (a coast)

7. (tr) to pursue and find or capture

   to run down a fugitive

8. (tr) to read swiftly or perfunctorily

   he ran down their list of complaints

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adjective

1. tired; exhausted

2. worn-out, shabby, or dilapidated

noun

1. a brief review, résumé, or summary

2. the process of a motor or mechanism coming gradually to a standstill after the source of power is removed

3. a reduction in number or size

run down Idioms  

1. Stop because of lack of power or force, as in The alarm clock finally ran down . [Mid-1700s]

2. Make or be tired, cause to decline or be declined in health or vigor, as in His long illness ran him down, leaving him with no energy , or After that huge assignment his strength ran down . [First half of 1800s]

3. Collide with and knock over, as in The speeding motorist ran down a pedestrian . [Second half of 1500s]

4. Chase and capture, as in Police detectives ran down the suspects . [Second half of 1600s]

5. Trace the source of, as in She ran down all the references at the library .

6. Disparage, as in Don't run him down, he's a talented actor . [Second half of 1600s] Also see put down , def. 4.

7. Also, run one's eyes over . Look over, review, as in Let's run down the membership list again and see if we can pick a delegate , or She ran her eyes over the crowd, looking for her husband .

8. In baseball, tag out a runner between bases, as in We might have won but in the last inning they ran down two of our runners .

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Etymology

Origin of run-down

First recorded in 1675–85; adj. use of verb phrase run down

Explanation

Use the adjective run-down to describe something that's so old it's falling apart, like a beat up old car or a worn out mattress with springs sticking out of it. A dingy neighborhood that's seen better days can be called run-down, and so can your decrepit apartment building, with its broken elevator, creaky stairs, and windows that don't close all the way. A person can also be run-down, if he is bent and elderly, or just exhausted from traveling for days or working too many late nights. You can also spell it rundown, although the hyphenated run-down is more common.

Example Sentences

The sidewalks were cracked, the buildings were run-down and the population of Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood in the early 1980s was dominated by older retirees.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Those theories ended in 2023, when police arrested Heuermann, a married father-of-two living in Massapequa Park, a quiet Long Island suburb, in a run-down house where he spent his childhood.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Wolf, a construction worker who lived with his mother and aunt in a run-down apartment complex off Foothill Boulevard, vented in Instagram comments about the city’s handling of the homelessness crisis.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026

AFP gives a run-down of where these data centres are being built, and why:

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

On one of those trips, Luma found herself lost in what seemed to be a run-down area beyond the eastern side of the Perimeter, only a few miles east of Decatur.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

Related Words

• broken-down
• crumbling
• decrepit
• derelict
• deserted
• desolate
• dilapidated
• dingy
• neglected
• ramshackle
• rickety
• seedy
• tacky