ramshackleram‧shack‧le /ˈræmʃækəl/ adjective 
Word Origin
a ramshackle old cottage
Word OriginWORD ORIGINramshackle
ExamplesOrigin:
1800-1900 ransackEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- a row of ramshackle homes
- No one had lived in the ramshackle farmhouse for years.
- After they had deposited their bags at the hotel, itself ramshackle and run-down, they had gone on to the hospital.
- He told us of families who had built ramshackle premises on unused land only to see them bulldozed.
- The only original thing at Ferry Farm today is a ramshackle shed where young George may have studied surveying.
- The shepherds from the village of Debelde, a collection of ramshackle houses, have stayed with their flocks.
- The trucks were so ramshackle that it was amazing they could move at all.
Longman Language Activatorbuildings or places in bad condition► in bad condition
Collocations also in a bad state especially British · It's a lovely city, but most of the buildings are in very bad condition.· Considering the bad condition the place is in, the price seems much too high.· The inspectors said the bridge was in a bad state and potentially dangerous.be in a terrible/dreadful etc condition · The house really is in an awful condition - it would cost far too much to repair.
► dilapidated a building that is dilapidated is in very bad condition because it has not been looked after or has not been repaired for a long time: · We stayed in an old, dilapidated hotel with a leaky roof.· Jesse was raised in a large, dilapidated house on the East Side.· Some of the old homes in Newville are well kept, but others are dilapidated.
► run-down a run-down area of a town is one in which the buildings and roads are all in bad condition, especially because the people who live there do not have enough money to look after them properly: · Since the textile company moved out, the area's gotten very run-down.· The men were hiding in an abandoned theater in a run-down part of the city.
► derelict something, such as a house or piece of land, that is derelict is in very bad condition because it has been empty and not used for a very long time: · In the middle of town is a derelict building that used to be the school.· The land behind the factory is stony and derelict.
► ramshackle a building that is ramshackle is in very bad condition and looks as though it is likely to fall down, especially because it was badly built, with cheap materials: · No one had lived in the ramshackle farmhouse for years.
► crumbling a crumbling building or wall is breaking into pieces because it is very old and damaged by the weather: · Tourists wandered through the crumbling remains of an ancient Greek temple.· Elvira lived on a street of old townhouses with crumbling façades.
► tumbledown especially British: tumbledown building/ house/cottage etc use this about a building that is old and beginning to fall down, especially in a way that seems attractive: · We arrived at a tumbledown cottage, surrounded by overgrown rose bushes and a broken fence.· The college was a collection of tumbledown old buildings in Paddington.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a ramshackle building
a ramshackle building or vehicle is in bad condition and in need of repair SYN tumbledown: (also a tumbledown building British English) (=old and almost falling down)· The farm was surrounded by tumbledown buildings.
a ramshackle old cottage