Meaning & use
dilapidation
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
The condition of a building or object that has fallen into bad repair because it has been neglected or has aged.
Grammar: Normally uncountable: the house fell into dilapidation.
Patterns
- fall into dilapidation
- in a state of dilapidation
The farmhouse had fallen into dilapidation after years of neglect.
Residents complained about the dilapidation of the old school.
Peeling paint and broken windows showed the dilapidation of the pier.
nounusually pluralBritishlegal
In British property law, damage a tenant causes to rented premises, or the sum a landlord claims to put it right.
Grammar: Usually dilapidations in this sense, treated as a plural: the landlord claimed dilapidations.
Patterns
- claim dilapidations
- dilapidations on something
The landlord sent a schedule of dilapidations when the lease ended.
She paid for dilapidations before returning the keys.
Surveyors inspected the shop to estimate dilapidations.
Word forms
| plural | dilapidations |
|---|
Common combinations
- state of dilapidation
- The cottage was in a sorry state of dilapidation.
- fall into dilapidation
- The mill fell into dilapidation once the town moved away.
- decay and dilapidation
- The street was a picture of decay and dilapidation.
- visible dilapidation
- Visible dilapidation put buyers off the property.
- schedule of dilapidations
- The tenant disputed the schedule of dilapidations.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disrepair
- Disrepair is the more common word and often used in the phrase fall into disrepair, whereas dilapidation is more formal and vivid.
- decay
- Decay suggests rot and slow breakdown, while dilapidation stresses a lack of upkeep.
- ruin
- Ruin is stronger and can mean total destruction, but a dilapidated building may still stand and be used.
- neglect
- Neglect names the cause, the lack of care, whereas dilapidation names the damaged result.
Opposites
Word family
- dilapidated adjective
- old, broken down and in bad repair
- dilapidate verb
- to let fall into ruin (rare)
- lapidary noun
- a worker with stones; related to the Latin root for stone
Commonly confused: dilapidation or deterioration?
dilapidation vs deterioration
Deterioration is a gradual worsening of anything, such as health, while dilapidation mostly describes buildings or objects in poor repair.
Practice
The abandoned hotel was in a state of ____, with broken windows and a sagging roof.
Choose one answer.
Dilapidation means a state of bad repair. Renovation is the opposite process, and elevation and dedication do not describe the damage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dilapidation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.