ramshackle
adjective
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The Evolution of Ramshackle
Ramshackle has nothing to do with rams, nor the act of being rammed, nor shackles. The word is an alteration of ransackled, an obsolete form of the verb ransack, meaning "to search through or plunder." (Ransack comes from Old Norse words meaning "house" and "seek.") A home that has been ransacked has had its contents thrown into disarray, and that image may be what inspired people to start using ramshackle in the first half of the 19th century to describe something that is poorly constructed or in a state of near collapse. Ramshackle in modern use can also be figurative, as in "a ramshackle excuse for the error."
Examples of ramshackle in a Sentence
Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
On another occasion, Heidi Fleiss, the infamous Hollywood madam turned animal-rights activist, vented to me about a powerful movie financier several years ago at her ramshackle property in the remote Nevada desert.
—Gary Baum, People.com, 9 June 2025
Dance away the summer nights at The Beachcomber, a ramshackle restaurant and live music venue perched atop the dunes of Wellfleet.
—Cameron Sperance, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2025
Most importantly, the ramshackle rotation has been lights out, leading the majors in ERA, FIP, and FanGraphs’ WAR.
—Sam Settleman, New York Times, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for ramshackle
Cite this Entry
“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ramshackle. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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ramshackle
adjective
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