Ramshackle

//ˈɹæmˌʃæk.əl// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To ransack. obsolete, transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    In disrepair or disorder; poorly maintained; lacking upkeep, usually of buildings or vehicles.

    "They stayed in a ramshackle cabin on the beach."

  2. 2
    Badly or carelessly organized.

    "So ramshackle was the locals' attempt at defence that, with energetic wingers pouring into the space behind panicked full-backs and centre-halves dizzied by England's movement, it was cruel to behold at times."

Adjective
  1. 1
    in deplorable condition wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
batteredbeatbeat upbeat-upbeaten upbeaten up

Example

More examples

"The suspect was hiding in one of those ramshackle buildings near the pier."

Etymology

First attested in 1830, a back-formation from ramshackled, from ransackled, past participle of ransackle (“to ransack”), frequentative of Middle English ransaken (“to pillage”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.