RAMSHACKLE Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

ramshackle

adjective

Definition of ramshackle

as in abandoned

showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect She earns her living buying ramshackle homes, restoring them, and selling them at a profit.

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of ramshackle In the middle, their friend J Mascis added percussion here and there, channeling the ramshackle precision of Dirty Three’s Jim White. — Brian Howe, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026 The show is a ramshackle blend of production techniques, using everything from model shots, classical animation, and even a fair few instances of matte painting to show the truly impossible on a grand scale. — William Worrall, Space.com, 15 July 2026 On the other hand, Dunaway and her tart-talking sidekick, Brenda Vaccaro, seem to be having the time of their lives as mistresses of the shades of darkness (their ramshackle abode is a funhouse Ghost Train ride festooned with skeletons, spiders and tattered netting). — Arthur Knight, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026 Police soon descended on the family's Massapequa Park home, the only ramshackle house in an otherwise upscale suburban neighborhood about 35 miles east of New York City. — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 19 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for ramshackle

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ramshackle

Adjective

By the time viewers reach hour 15, the staff has spent an entire shift navigating a cyberattack that forces the emergency department to abandon digital systems, a nonstop influx of Fourth of July emergencies and an abandoned baby.

— Tanya Fedak, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026
According to the gallery, the 25-minute film is set in a semi-abandoned hotel near Tokyo and reimagines the Greek myth of the goddess Persephone’s abduction by Hades.

— Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 16 June 2026

Definition of abandoned

Adjective

Once a stronghold of canneries and lumber mills, the town has numerous tumbledown Victorians that have long been havens for artists, brewers, and various eccentrics—along with fans of The Goonies, who make pilgrimages to see where the seminal movie was shot.

— David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 10 June 2026
Nick is a young father, struggling to make ends meet in his tumbledown home and feeding his family from foodbank donations.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2025

Definition of tumbledown

Adjective

Each state has its own system, and many are rickety or verging on obsolescence.

— Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
For years, many of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority have embarked on rickety wooden boats to try to reach neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, ‌in ⁠a bid to flee persecution in Myanmar or overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 15 Apr. 2026

Definition of rickety

Adjective

Clark said the supports are needed because equipment used in the investigation is too heavy and difficult to maneuver safely on the deteriorated floor.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026
According to the officer, the decision to classify Sands' death as such was the result of the deteriorated condition of his body.

— Nicole Briese, PEOPLE, 27 June 2026

Definition of deteriorated

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“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ramshackle. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of ramshackle

adjective

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