Decrepit
adjective
Old and in bad condition or poor health.
He lives in a decrepit old house.
Often appears as...
- decrepit old man
- decrepit building
adjective
Old and in bad condition or poor health.
He lives in a decrepit old house.
Often appears as...
- decrepit old man
- decrepit building
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Age and Condition
Use 'decrepit' to describe something extremely old and near collapse or not working well.
The decrepit machine finally broke down.
Pro Tip 2/3Health Context
'Decrepit' can imply frail health due to advanced age, without being disrespectful.
The once vibrant actor now looked decrepit.
Pro Tip 3/3Not for People
Although it can describe people, use it carefully as it can sound derogatory or insensitive.
It's rude to refer to an elderly person as decrepit.
Compare with
debilitatedecaydilapidatedfeeblefrailrun downshabby
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Video examples
What happens to people...
when it has state-of-the-art technology and gleaming floors, not overcrowded cells and decrepit facilities, it's harder to believe that torture happens there. But it's important to entertain the idea that, sometimes, this too is what torture looks like. As a civil rights lawyer,
Video examples
How Bats Can Transmit...
You're standing at this abandoned mine. You can only see maybe two or three meters in before it's entirely black. But in the kind of haze, you can see the kind of decrepit, old bits
Video examples
What happens to people...
when it has state-of-the-art technology and gleaming floors, not overcrowded cells and decrepit facilities, it's harder to believe that torture happens there. But it's important to entertain the idea that, sometimes, this too is what torture looks like. As a civil rights lawyer,
Video examples
How Bats Can Transmit...
You're standing at this abandoned mine. You can only see maybe two or three meters in before it's entirely black. But in the kind of haze, you can see the kind of decrepit, old bits
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Rodman Philbrick
American Writer
I vividly remember my sixth-grade classroom. I remember what it smelled like, where I sat, what I could see out the window, and how I felt about things. Peel away my decrepit middle-aged exterior, and an important part of me is still twelve years old. It helps me when I sit down to write stories for kids.
Quote examples
Limahl
English Musician
Part of my job is to be looked at and I do think we live in a world where you are judged on your looks. If you look at someone you previously liked and they look old and decrepit, I don't think it's that pleasant.
Quote examples
Rufus Wainwright
Canadian Musician
Places that have experienced great defeat experience a kind of rebirth, which I think America has to do - unless we want to get more decrepit. I don't think we have to destroy the place totally.
Quote examples
George Eliot
British Author
The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.
Quote examples
F. Sionil Jose
Filipino Writer
For them who delay aging, who infuse decrepit bodies with youth and beauty - they must rejoice in the fullness of their deeds.
Quote examples
Suzanne Somers
American Actress
The biggest myth about aging is that we can't do anything about it. That it's a road to being decrepit, frail, and sick.
Quote examples
Gerald Griffin
American Author
Just because I was almost 62, I did not feel decrepit and felt I wasn't finished being a soldier yet.
Quote examples
Graham Chapman
British Comedian
Dressing up as decrepit old ladies, and even decrepit young ladies, was one of our staples.
Quote examples
Gerrit Smith
American Politician
There is room in our ranks for the old and decrepit, as well as the young and vigorous.
Quote examples
Helen Thomas
American Journalist
I'm decrepit but I don't want to give up, and I love my work.
Quote examples
Rodman Philbrick
American Writer
I vividly remember my sixth-grade classroom. I remember what it smelled like, where I sat, what I could see out the window, and how I felt about things. Peel away my decrepit middle-aged exterior, and an important part of me is still twelve years old. It helps me when I sit down to write stories for kids.
Quote examples
Limahl
English Musician
Part of my job is to be looked at and I do think we live in a world where you are judged on your looks. If you look at someone you previously liked and they look old and decrepit, I don't think it's that pleasant.
Quote examples
Rufus Wainwright
Canadian Musician
Places that have experienced great defeat experience a kind of rebirth, which I think America has to do - unless we want to get more decrepit. I don't think we have to destroy the place totally.
Quote examples
George Eliot
British Author
The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.
Quote examples
F. Sionil Jose
Filipino Writer
For them who delay aging, who infuse decrepit bodies with youth and beauty - they must rejoice in the fullness of their deeds.
Quote examples
Suzanne Somers
American Actress
The biggest myth about aging is that we can't do anything about it. That it's a road to being decrepit, frail, and sick.
Quote examples
Gerald Griffin
American Author
Just because I was almost 62, I did not feel decrepit and felt I wasn't finished being a soldier yet.
Quote examples
Graham Chapman
British Comedian
Dressing up as decrepit old ladies, and even decrepit young ladies, was one of our staples.
Quote examples
Gerrit Smith
American Politician
There is room in our ranks for the old and decrepit, as well as the young and vigorous.
Quote examples
Helen Thomas
American Journalist
I'm decrepit but I don't want to give up, and I love my work.
Example 1 of 10
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