derelict

CEFRC2

/ˈdɛr.ə.lɪkt/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Abandoned and in very poor condition.

  2. 02

    noun

    A person without a home or care.

Examples

  • In most Algerian apartment buildings, elevators are derelict and haven't worked for a long time.

  • There was a derelict ship on the island.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈdɛɹəˌlɪk(t)/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Of property: in a poor state due to abandonment or neglect; dilapidated, neglected.

  2. Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.

  3. Of a ship: abandoned at sea; of a spacecraft: abandoned in outer space.

More examples

In context

  • Sami is a derelict.

  • [T]heſe affections, vvhich theſe expoſed or derelict children bear to their Mothers, have no grounds of nature or aſſiduity but civility and opinion; […]

  • [F]or the public, for the redemption of the whole world, God hath (shall we say, pretermitted?) derelicted, forsaken, abandoned, his own, and only Son.

Synonyms

Quick test

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The blank building had broken windows and overgrown weeds out front.

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”) (from Proto-Italic *wrelinkʷō, from *wre (“again”) (whence Latin rē- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + *linkʷō (“to leave”) (whence linquō (“to forsake; depart from, leave, quit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”))). Doublet of relict, relic, and relinquish. The noun is derived from the adjective.