ramshackle

adjective

ram·shack·le ˈram-ˌsha-kəl

Synonyms of ramshackle next

: appearing ready to collapse : rickety

: carelessly or loosely constructed

a ramshackle plot

Did you know?

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

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.

About 10 years ago, the South Campus, in the vicinity of South 10th Street and Alma Avenue, was a somewhat ramshackle spot for the university. —

George Avalos, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025 Grand Tour is a little like these men and their machine: a deliberately ramshackle work made more captivating through its lack of conventional modes of propulsion and meaning. —

Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024 Living in near-poverty in a series of poor apartments, or out of a ramshackle touring van for weeks on end? —

Cat Woods, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2025 The tiny, ramshackle 19th-century clapboard house is light-years away from the nearby Vanderbilt Mansion, also open to the public. —

airmail.news, 27 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for ramshackle