decrepit
Americanadjective
-
weakened by old age; feeble; infirm.
a decrepit man who can hardly walk.
- Antonyms:
- vigorous
-
worn out by long use; dilapidated.
a decrepit stove.
adjective
-
enfeebled by old age; infirm
-
broken down or worn out by hard or long use; dilapidated
Related Words
See weak.
Other Word Forms
- decrepitly adverb
- decrepitness noun
- decrepitude noun
- undecrepit adjective
Etymology
Origin of decrepit
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin dēcrepitus, literally, “broken down,” equivalent to dē- de- + crep(āre) “to crack” + -i- -i- + -tus past participle suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At California City Detention Facility, immigrants file lawsuit over alleged ‘shockingly deficient’ medical care, frigid temperatures, bugs crawling on walls, sewage backups, inadequate food and water, and generally ‘decrepit’ conditions.
From Los Angeles Times
During her run as Celie in The Color Purple in London, she recalls critics complaining that her character wasn’t “gray” or “decrepit” enough and that the show “wasn’t violent enough.”
From Salon
In the end, the Mobutu era left few visible traces behind: a handful of palaces and monuments to the late dictator lie decrepit, while virtually no infrastructure from his time survives to this day.
From Barron's
Now, it needs to spend more again on the military and shore up crumbling infrastructure, from potholed roads to a decrepit rail system.
He wasn’t talking to them or to the decrepit Democratic power structure they represent.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
