as in abandoned
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
She earns her living buying ramshackle homes, restoring them, and selling them at a profit.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ramshackle
The cacophonous construction in the film opening scene is of a ramshackle company hut for Junior’s whole family to live in — nothing more than a one-room shed, it’s cramped and unequal to the coming rainy season.
—
Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2026
Mike Buckley designed the scenery, which includes the ramshackle cabin and children’s swing in Bountiful.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
So now, the ramshackle Coinjock School sits in the restaurant’s backyard and his plan for restoration keeps getting more ambitious with each passing year.
—Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 12 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Wright has made some charming and entertaining pictures, among them the ramshackle zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, from 2004, and a delightful 2021 documentary, The Sparks Brothers, about brothers Ron and Russell Mael, otherwise known as the art-pop duo Sparks.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ramshackle
Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2026
Mike Buckley designed the scenery, which includes the ramshackle cabin and children’s swing in Bountiful.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
So now, the ramshackle Coinjock School sits in the restaurant’s backyard and his plan for restoration keeps getting more ambitious with each passing year.
—Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 12 Jan. 2026
Advertisement Wright has made some charming and entertaining pictures, among them the ramshackle zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, from 2004, and a delightful 2021 documentary, The Sparks Brothers, about brothers Ron and Russell Mael, otherwise known as the art-pop duo Sparks.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 12 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ramshackle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ramshackle
Adjective
-
The city has been overwhelmed in recent years by an influx of abandoned and stray dogs and puppies.—
Alyce McFadden,
San Francisco Chronicle,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Antonia Noori Farzan The Providence Police Department is urging drivers to stay off the road, saying that stuck and abandoned cars are causing problems and preventing the city from getting back to normal.—
Eryn Dion,
The Providence Journal,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Nick is a young father, struggling to make ends meet in his tumbledown home and feeding his family from foodbank donations.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
30 Aug. 2025
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Opened in 1935 as a barbecue market in a tumbledown former Lebanese grocery near the Fort Worth Stockyards, Joe T.’s now serves up to 2,000 diners at once across seven city blocks of dining and parking.—
Bud Kennedy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
The state Department of Corrections is in strikingly similar dire straits with dilapidated prisons and a decreasing number of COs.—
Steve Zeidman,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
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Ross saved the Miami Open, moving it from a dilapidated Key Biscayne venue, and retrofitting Hard Rock Stadium’s grounds for it.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Your sunnies should be comfortable and durable, not rickety!—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
26 Mar. 2026
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Still, those sorts of phony statements have deeply diminished faith in our elections and our increasingly rickety democracy.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior.—
Dylan Lovan,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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Crews will also remove the deteriorated deck concrete and install new slabs and joints.—
Brian Sherrod,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ramshackle. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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