How to Use ramshackle in a Sentence

ramshackle

adjective
  • The movie's ramshackle plot is confusing and not believable.
  • The Foo Fighters is a ramshackle sort of band, it’s not Steely Dan.
    Steve Baltin, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2022
  • The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) A hokey ramshackle mess.
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 July 2023
  • Like many of the bars dotted across the region, Guiga’s is ramshackle and no-frills.
    Andrew Downie, Time, 3 Dec. 2022
  • Their house sits among a cluster of ramshackle buildings at the end of a dirt track.
    Dennis Normile, Science | AAAS, 21 Sep. 2017
  • The same could be said for In the Heights itself, which achieves a ramshackle beauty all its own.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2021
  • Massey’s has the alarming, ramshackle charm of a roadside stand that rents Uzis.
    Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2023
  • The movie begins with Rob (Cage) living in a ramshackle cabin in the woods.
    oregonlive, 15 July 2021
  • Lillian, Bessie and Roland make for a shabby and ramshackle trio.
    Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 29 Oct. 2019
  • After all, the once-ramshackle structure at 417 Jonathan St. turned out to be one of the oldest buildings in the city.
    Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2021
  • Behind him stands a ramshackle house in the Nevada desert, casting him in a half light.
    Rafael Francisco Salas, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Have a quick peek at the dusty, ramshackle in-house museum—and then get yourself and your boots to the dancefloor.
    Corey Seymour, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2019
  • The sound is loose, rootsy, ramshackle rock with elements of swing and gospel.
    Spin Staff, SPIN, 22 Apr. 2022
  • The sisters fanned out around the ramshackle home, peering in windows and knocking on the siding to call her name.
    Chris Kenning, The Courier-Journal, 24 Dec. 2019
  • Five miles out stands a cluster of ramshackle dwellings: Puerto Rey.
    Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, 29 May 2021
  • Who slit the old man’s throat one night in the attic of his fabulously ramshackle abode?
    Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Hines, 24, walked up to the ramshackle boardinghouse and gently knocked.
    Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2020
  • But Turner Mountain isn’t just some ramshackle ski area off in the boondocks.
    Justin Franz, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
  • The road is lined with endless rows of ramshackle redbrick buildings.
    The Economist, 14 June 2018
  • The first challenge was to transport some of the ramshackle charm of the original Ed’s into a more generic space.
    Lawrence Specker | , al, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Van Zant loathed flying, and the ramshackle plane contributed to his feeling of malaise.
    Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2023
  • Two sets of ropes hang flights below the aforementioned ramshackle stairs.
    Claire Rafford, The Indianapolis Star, 13 June 2022
  • The thin strips of pasteboard nailed to the walls was a ramshackle form of insulation, and textbook tinder.
    Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 20 Dec. 2017
  • English Cool occupies part of a ramshackle town house, flanked by a cell-phone-repair shop and a garage.
    Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2017
  • There are ramshackle front porches and naked light fixtures and no-frills curtains.
    Michael Cavna, Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2022
  • Beyond the sign, a ramshackle encampment sprawled around two lakes.
    Justin Jouvenal, chicagotribune.com, 2 Sep. 2017
  • The ramshackle houses are heated with firewood and some still make do with an outdoor privy.
    Alissa Simon, Variety, 12 Nov. 2021
  • Many colonias, which feature a mix of ramshackle shacks and modest brick homes, are built in floodplains.
    Scott Waldman, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Also along the banks of the Spree River, Berlin’s largest sustainable urban development project has a ramshackle vibe.
    Liz Humphreys, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 May 2023
  • What may look ramshackle or dilapidated from one angle makes good sense from another.
    Jeremy Adelman, Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2012

Some of 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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