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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

a dilapidated building exterior

English answer:

eyesore

Added to glossary by Roddy Stegemann
Jan 30, 2004 14:01
20 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

an old delapidated house

English Art/Literary Architecture old buildings
I am looking for another special term that describes old houses with delapidated exteriors and very refined interiors. Is there such a term?

If you cannot think of one, then at least a single word to describe a run-down building. I am thinking in terms of say a very old, tall apartment or office building whose exterior has gone to ruin for wont of upkeep.
Responses
5 +1 eyesore
4 +2 has seen better days, run down,
5 deteriorating exterior
4 +1 stately building with neglected/run-down exterior
4 +1 derelict (facade)
3 +2 don't think there is such a word
4 Below
4 decrepit
4 deteriorated, shabby, scruffy
4 a wreck/utter wreck/complete wreck/bit of a wreck (depending on how bad it is)
4 a ruin
3 old low-profile houses

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Jan 30, 2004:
Hamo What you all are providing are adjectives to describe buildings, not what the buildings are called themselves. For example, a comical person is sometimes called a buffoon. So what do you call a decrepit-looking building?

Responses

+1
1 hr
Selected

eyesore

I know an 'eyesore' is mainly used to refer to an aesthetically unpleasing building but it can also be used to describe once-grand builings that have fallen into a state of disrepair. You might want to use an adjective with it though such as 'crumbling'.

Some examples:

Frenetic Mind: loving the neighborhood
... of an eyesore, but you could see that it had glory days and underneath the broken
windows, peeled paint and rotting siding was a beautiful building of some ...
www.lathefamily.org/warren3/blogs/000235.html

Living - The Cincinnati Post
... through and then out of this beautiful building. A long decline began. Finally, it
was empty. As recently as a decade ago, it had become a boarded-up eyesore. ...
www.cincypost.com/2003/10/15/cloon101503.html
Peer comment(s):
agree mbc : Yes, good suggestion. It was an eyesore from the outside but still strangely elegant inside.
3 days 19 hrs
Thanks Madeline
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks to everyone. As I often referred to the eyesores of my original question several times, I profitted from several of the other suggestions offered -- in particular ramshackle and derelict."
2 mins

deteriorating exterior

typo: dilapidated house

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3 mins

Below

Rickety?
Ramshackle?
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+1
6 mins

stately building with neglected/run-down exterior

Suggestion - To my knowledge there is no term that covers both cases (neglected on the outside only).
Peer comment(s):
agree Nancy Arrowsmith : concentrate on dilapidated facade, exterior
2 hrs
Thank you!
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7 mins

decrepit

The NEW OXFORD Thesaurus of ENGLISH

run down Øadjective
1 a run-down area of East London
DILAPIDATED, tumbledown, ramshackle, derelict, ruinous, falling to pieces, decrepit, gone to rack and ruin, in ruins, broken-down, crumbling, decaying, disintegrating;
NEGLECTED, uncared-for, unmaintained, depressed, down at heel, seedy, shabby, dingy, slummy, insalubrious, squalid; informal shambly, crummy; Brit. informal grotty; N. Amer. informal shacky.
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+2
13 mins

has seen better days, run down,

Roget's Thesaurus: dilapidated
or
battered, run down, wane, deteriorate
Peer comment(s):
agree Patricia Baldwin
11 mins
agree Mario Marcolin
1 day 21 hrs
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21 mins

deteriorated, shabby, scruffy

James Q. Wilson and George Kelling developed the `broken windows' thesis to explain the signaling function of neighborhood characteristics. This thesis suggests that the following sequence of events can be expected in deteriorating neighborhoods. Evidence of decay (accumulated trash, broken windows, deteriorated building exteriors) remains in the neighborhood for a reasonably long period of time.

... excellent. The steps here make a shabby house look so so chic. Beautiful
Book. This book is informative and beautifully illustrated. ...
www.growinglifestyle.co.uk/uk/prod/0060392088.html

... country house. It is an agreeable, if scruffy, house, planted in an
excellently run and beautifully maintained farm. Henry's wife ...
www.vstapes.com/hot.html
Reference:

http://www.cityofseattle.net/police/Prevention/Tips/broken_window.htm

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+1
28 mins

derelict (facade)

provided it's clear that only the outside is concerned

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2004-01-30 15:19:11 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

SLUM
HOVEL
DUMP
PIT
OLD HOUSE IN A SORRY STATE
A CRUMBLING PROPERTY
Peer comment(s):
agree Heidi Stone-Schaller : I like the suggestions in your added note, esp hovel
54 mins
neutral Gareth McMillan : Sorry, had to delete my agree- forgot about the "refined interior " bit.
2 hrs
neutral Textklick : No word as such IMHO. "Deceptively derelict"? That's my inspiration from looking at a mirror ;-)
8 hrs
I agree with you that no word exists. Just tried to inspire him, that's all
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+2
47 mins

don't think there is such a word

Slum could be an option, but then again slum might suggest a derelict interior as well as the exterior.

HTH though, and enjoy the weekend,
Jacqueline
Peer comment(s):
agree agtranslat : You're right. Around here buildings are usually named after their function, not after their condition, unless someone produces some couterexample.
2 days 13 hrs
agree Eva Olsson : Possibly, in some cases, you could use safehouse.
3 days 1 hr
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58 mins

old low-profile houses

:)
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1 hr

a wreck/utter wreck/complete wreck/bit of a wreck (depending on how bad it is)

Not sure about the 'nice on the inside' bit (??) but I'd call it a wreck.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Gareth McMillan : What about "refined wreck"?
1 hr
nice, thanks Gareth :)
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2 hrs

a ruin

you can refer to a run-down old building as a ruin
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