decrepit
/dɪˈkrɛpɪt
/adjective
1Worn out or ruined because of age or neglect: a row of decrepit houses...
- According to council reports, two thirds of the houses are decrepit with out-of-date heating systems, crumbling walls and dodgy electrics.
- Schools look more decrepit than houses, government offices, strung along the road, so run down you wonder if anybody ever visits them.
- Demolition debris surrounds the stately but decrepit house of Sripathi Rao, Nandana's grandfather.
Synonyms
dilapidated, rickety, run down, broken-down, tumbledown, ramshackle, worn out, derelict, in ruins, ruined, falling apart, falling to pieces, in (a state of) disrepair, creaky, creaking, gone to rack and ruin, on its last legs;
battered, decayed, decaying, crumbling, deteriorated, deteriorating, antiquated, superannuated, the worse for wear
Australian/New Zealand informal rumpty
1.1(Of a person) elderly and infirm: a rather decrepit old man...
- My parents are not decrepit old people; they insist on remaining as young as possible, and by doing so, they keep me young too.
- Shah Jahan would recover from his illness only to spend his last days as an old and decrepit man, imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, in the fort in Agra.
- The old decrepit man watched as they harassed the beautiful young lady who was trying to enjoy her lunch in peace.
Synonyms
feeble, enfeebled, infirm, weak, weakened, weakly, frail, debilitated, incapacitated, wasted, doddering, tottering, out of shape, in bad shape;
old, elderly, aged, ancient, in one's dotage, long in the tooth, senile;
superannuated, senescent
informal past it, over the hill, no spring chicken
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin decrepitus, from de- 'down' + crepitus, past participle of crepare 'rattle, creak'.
This word describing someone who is elderly and infirm owes its extended sense to the noise of creaking. The source is Latin decrepitus, from crepare ‘to rattle, creak’.