ramshackle

adjective

ram·​shack·​le ˈram-ˌsha-kəl How to pronounce ramshackle (audio)
1
: appearing ready to collapse : rickety
2
: carelessly or loosely constructed
a ramshackle plot

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The Evolution of Ramshackle

Ramshackle has nothing to do with rams, nor the act of being rammed, nor shackles. The word is an alteration of ransackled, an obsolete form of the verb ransack, meaning "to search through or plunder." (Ransack comes from Old Norse words meaning "house" and "seek.") A home that has been ransacked has had its contents thrown into disarray, and that image may be what inspired people to start using ramshackle in the first half of the 19th century to describe something that is poorly constructed or in a state of near collapse. Ramshackle in modern use can also be figurative, as in "a ramshackle excuse for the error."

Examples of ramshackle in a Sentence

The movie's ramshackle plot is confusing and not believable.
Recent Examples on the Web In a ramshackle Pennsylvania neighborhood during the 1920s and ’30s, Jewish and African American residents come together to hide an orphan from state officials. Becky Meloan, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024 The project area consists mostly of a ramshackle stretch of aging and sometimes vacant warehouse and industrial buildings, auto-body shops and empty lots, though a longstanding working-class neighborhood of single-family homes sits to its north. Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2024 An unhinged salon door, bare ladder, wooden bed frame and picket fence are some of the remnants nailed together for a ramshackle background. Bryan West, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024 But the show wastes no opportunity to ram home that '40s feeling—every room is dimly lit, and every Allied office feels like a ramshackle clapboard mess. Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2024 After their shocking reunion last week, Roy imprisons Dot in a ramshackle cabin on his property. EW.com, 2 Jan. 2024 The captives were brought to a series of ramshackle drop houses, where they were held while their kidnappers called relatives to demand money for their release. Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2024 Her ramshackle structure in Nanjemoy, Md. — about 40 miles south of the District — was heated by a wood stove and surrounded by trash. Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024 The overall effect is a kind of ramshackle coherence. Bathsheba Demuth, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ramshackle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier ransackled, from past participle of obsolete ransackle, frequentative of ransack

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ramshackle was in 1830

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Dictionary Entries Near ramshackle

Cite this Entry

“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ramshackle. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ramshackle

adjective
ram·​shack·​le ˈram-ˌshak-əl How to pronounce ramshackle (audio)
: looking ready to fall down
a ramshackle old barn
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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