How to Use derelict in a Sentence

derelict

adjective
  • The officer was charged with being derelict in his duty.
  • But there are thousands and thousands of open source projects, and many of them are more or less derelict.
    — Tony Bradley, Forbes, 31 July 2022
  • The house where Floyd grew up next to the projects is derelict, its windows boarded up.
    — Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2020
  • The farmhouse is empty and the little shop made of cinder blocks feels derelict.
    — Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Per El País, the building had been in derelict condition for years.
    — Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2021
  • But some of the structures remained in place for more than a decade, including a derelict roller coaster.
    — Bill Van Niekerken, SFChronicle.com, 4 Sep. 2019
  • And no president should be so derelict in duty of protecting our country, right?
    — NBC News, 18 Feb. 2018
  • The neighborhood changed, and by 1973 the building was derelict.
    — Andrew Silow-Carroll, sun-sentinel.com, 4 Aug. 2021
  • Both were meant to bring the financially derelict cities into solvency, at any cost.
    — Derek Robertson, The New Republic, 12 Jan. 2022
  • And its rule of law, rickety at best, is shockingly derelict for an EU country.
    — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2023
  • Sirens whine in the background; informants call with tips; shots of derelict cityscapes suggest the loneliness of life on the lam.
    — Sean Paulsen, The New Yorker, 5 July 2023
  • Gravel driveway, partly washed away and looking derelict, shameful.
    — Joyce Carol Oates, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
  • The common public cry is that California needs more big dams and the state has been derelict in not building them.
    — George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2021
  • Once home to 5,000 people, the village has become a ghost town of shuttered shops and derelict homes.
    — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2023
  • The story begins with the Yi’s move to a derelict plot of land in the middle of nowhere Arkansas.
    — Zoe Guy, Marie Claire, 25 Apr. 2021
  • For much of the past century, the Atlanta way of dealing with dangerous and derelict housing was to tear it down.
    — Alan Judd, ajc, 30 Oct. 2017
  • The flashpoint for those set-tos was TCC’s purchase of two large, derelict properties on the edge of town.
    — Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2023
  • In the '20s, though, the neighborhood was derelict and slated for demolition.
    — Jennifer Billock, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2020
  • The property was so derelict auction attendees were asked to sign a waiver before entering.
    — Jessica Mudditt, CNN, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Swanson is now spearheading a small group of mostly police officers who are working to make sure derelict cops like Green don't get a pass.
    — The Oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, 25 Aug. 2017
  • And over the years, while the prospect of a definitive renovation glimmered on the horizon, the structure grew more and more derelict, leaky, and cramped.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 5 Apr. 2021
  • Windows were broken in the house, the kitchen ceiling was collapsing and outside, several pieces of derelict farm equipment sat rusting.
    — John MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News, 18 May 2018
  • And the massive data center that was planned for a derelict six-story industrial building next door now appears much less likely to go forward.
    — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 3 Dec. 2022
  • At the same time across town, another agent is in the basement of a derelict church trying to disarm the reverend’s equally sadistic brother in hand-to-hand combat.
    — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 19 Aug. 2023
  • In response to the fire, Times reporters compiled a list of derelict buildings in central Johannesburg.
    — John Eligon, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2023
  • The Democrats have been very derelict in letting the Republicans have that word and not having their own definition of freedom.
    — How To Save A Country, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2022
  • The aim is to transform what is a derelict brownfield site on the edge of the River Mersey into a thriving new waterfront neighbourhood.
    — David Prosser, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2021
  • Just a few more blocks away is the derelict CVS that has become a lightning rod of neighborhood fury, a monument to gross neglect.
    — Wes Burdine, Twin Cities, 19 Oct. 2025
  • The majority of the pollution that washes onto the beaches of Hawaii is derelict fishing gear, Corniuk said.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Away from the pristine resorts, streets are lined with derelict buildings, battered by one hurricane season too many, their windows broken and floors strewn with empty bottles.
    — Joel Khalili, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'derelict.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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