ramshackle
adjective
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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
Ben Shpigel, New York Times, 11 May 2024
Postwar Phnom Penh was a ramshackle city of squatters, hustlers, and beggars.
—Chantha Nguon, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ramshackle 
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Ramshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ramshackle. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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ramshackle
adjective
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