How to Use dilapidated in a Sentence

dilapidated

adjective
  • What there is is a lot of dilapidated former mill sites that have docks.
    — Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Sep. 2021
  • In wealthy states, dilapidated schools have been closed for fear of collapse.
    — The Economist, 14 Nov. 2019
  • On the show Hill would buy dilapidated homes, fix them up and sell them for a profit.
    — Jennifer Sangalang, USA Today, 13 May 2025
  • The truck drove off the main highway, onto dirt roads, and stopped near a dilapidated shack.
    — Beth Warren, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
  • The space has made a turnaround from its dilapidated state just months before.
    — Kansas City Star, 15 May 2026
  • Their warped ceilings and dilapidated walls were torn down and hauled away 33 years ago.
    — Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star, 14 May 2018
  • But his family said the dilapidated house did not meet the city code and was condemned.
    — Perry Stein, Washington Post, 17 July 2019
  • Old and dilapidated, paint peeling off the wood – white above, red below.
    — Gregg Doyel indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Jan. 2023
  • The deserted farm and dilapidated house across the road showed no signs of recent use.
    — Michael Standaert and Eva Dou, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Oct. 2021
  • Watkins sits on a dilapidated sofa, near the table and beat-up chairs someone threw way.
    — John Johnston, The Enquirer, 25 Dec. 2020
  • Kay's return to the house brings queasy nightmares about a dilapidated cottage on the grounds.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2020
  • In other words, putting a gleaming new bathroom in a dilapidated house is like putting a bow on a burro.
    — Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Sep. 2022
  • Now, charred and dilapidated buildings dot the small city center.
    — NPR, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Halleck said a dilapidated house on the property would be razed as part of the overall project.
    — Karen Caffarini, chicagotribune.com, 2 Apr. 2021
  • People stayed warm under a tarp jutting from the back of the dilapidated two-story house.
    — oregonlive, 20 Feb. 2021
  • There was a dilapidated beach bungalow on the site, which is about one and a half hours south of Melbourne.
    — Mailin Sophie Zieser, Architectural Digest, 26 Aug. 2025
  • So prices for bringing a dilapidated home back to life should start at about €5,000.
    — Silvia Marchetti, CNN, 21 Aug. 2021
  • In this one, from 1977, a dilapidated plane strafes a field of civilians mid-prayer.
    — New York Times, 15 Oct. 2020
  • The church demolished the dilapidated school but used the bricks in the new construction.
    — al, 9 Sep. 2022
  • They were forced to live in dilapidated buildings with mold, sewage, and rodent issues, and were confined to their rooms for weeks on end.
    — Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2025
  • The home appeared to be in a dilapidated state, as hinges were missing from the roof and a piece of the roof’s eaves appeared to have detached.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 14 July 2024
  • From the air, Port-au-Prince is a dense sprawl of chaotic streets and dilapidated houses.
    — Denise Schrier Cetta, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Salmon was one of the most poignant examples — in the last two decades, the district failed to pass around a dozen bonds to replace its dilapidated schools.
    — ProPublica, 24 May 2024
  • Unable to pay rent, the boys moved several hours away to the small, dilapidated house with the leaky roof where rent is minimal.
    — Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 18 June 2026
  • Restoration of the dilapidated house began; it was opened as an inn in the 1960s.
    — Russell Yip; Story By Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Mar. 2018
  • The Gein farmhouse was a dilapidated house of horrors.
    — Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2025
  • His apartment was on the ground floor of a clapboard building along a block of dilapidated homes surrounded by overgrown weeds.
    — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
  • But as the sisters played, a pit bull lunged in their direction and strained to break free from a cord tied around its neck and affixed to a thin rope in a dilapidated garage.
    — Kat Stafford, Detroit Free Press, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Meanwhile, the Eagles were able to rest their starters and still coast against the dilapidated Giants.
    — Hank Gola, New York Daily News, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Despite the dilapidated state, the couple fell in love with its ancient olive trees, a creek and a network of aqueducts winding through the fields.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dilapidated.' 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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