Standard Lemma guide

run-down

adj · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: R AH1 N D AW1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Tired and exhausted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: out of gas, weary, bleareyed, bleary, bleary-eyed, bone-tired, bushed, tired out, spent, wrecked, drained, dog-tired, dog-weary, exhausted, fatigued, forfairn, forlagen, forworn, heavyeyed, jaded, languid, enervated, played out, run-down, shattered, shot, sleepy, stuffed, tired, washed out, weariful, whacked, whipped, worn, worn out, banjaxed, beat, buggered, busted, dead tired, cream crackered, done, done in, done up, fagged out, fried, fucked, gassed, jiggered, Kerry Packered, knacked, knackered, nadgered, pooped, pooped out, pumped, shagged, shagged out, tuckered, tuckered out, wappened, zonked

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Decrepit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dilapidated, worse for wear, shabby, tacky, scroungy, beat, beat up, beaten up, bedraggled, broken-down, crumbling, derelict, draggled, neglected, ramshackle, ruinous, run-down, seedy, tatterdemalion, timeworn, tumbledown

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Having the spring unwound.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative form of rundown.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

having the spring unwound

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a run-down watch

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

worn and broken down by hard use

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a creaky shack
  • a decrepit bus...its seats held together with friction tape
  • a flea-bitten sofa
  • a run-down neighborhood
  • a woebegone old shack

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: creaky, decrepit, derelict, flea-bitten, woebegone

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Deverbal from run down.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: vyčerpaný — of a person: tired and exhausted
  • Czech: utahaný — of a person: tired and exhausted
  • Dutch: vermoeid — of a person: tired and exhausted
  • Dutch: afgeleefd — of a person: tired and exhausted
  • German: heruntergekommen — of a person: tired and exhausted
  • Dutch: bouwvallig — of a place: decrepit
  • Dutch: uitgeleefd — of a place: decrepit
  • Esperanto: kaduka — of a place: decrepit
  • Finnish: ränsistynyt — of a place: decrepit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nedslitt — of a place: decrepit
  • Spanish: deteriorado — of a place: decrepit
  • Spanish: decrépito — of a place: decrepit
  • Swedish: nedgången — of a place: decrepit
Real reading context

run-down in complete knowledge articles