Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Not functioning or in working order: Describes something, typically a machine or vehicle, that has ceased to operate correctly due to damage, age, or disrepair.
   • In a state of severe physical decay or disrepair: Describes a structure or object that is dilapidated, falling apart, or in a very poor condition.
   • Weakened or exhausted: Can describe a person or animal that is in a state of physical decline, frailty, or poor health.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The broken-down car was abandoned by the side of the road.
  • They lived in a broken-down shack with a leaky roof.
  • After the long illness, he was just a broken-down version of his former self.

Advanced Usage

• Used attributively (before a noun): Most commonly, "broken-down" is used directly before the noun it modifies to describe its poor condition.
  • We passed a field full of broken-down machinery.
• Used predictively (after a linking verb like 'be', 'seem', 'look'): It can also follow a verb to describe the subject's state.
  • The old pier looked completely broken-down.

Variants and Related Words

• Break down (phrasal verb): The verb phrase from which the adjective is derived. It means to cease to function, to fail, or to collapse.
  • My car broke down on the highway.
• Dilapidated (adj): A close synonym, especially for buildings and structures in bad condition.
• Decrepit (adj): Similar in meaning, emphasizing weakness or feebleness due to age or long use.

Synonyms

• Out of order
• Non-functional
• Ramshackle
• Tumble-down
• Bedraggled (when referring to a messy, worn-out appearance)
• Worn-out

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Break down: As mentioned above, this is the source verb phrase. It can refer to mechanical failure, emotional collapse, or the process of analyzing something into parts.
  • The negotiations broke down over the key issue.
  • She broke down in tears.

Related Idioms

• On its last legs: An idiom describing something that is almost completely broken-down or worn out and likely to stop working soon.
  • That broken-down refrigerator is on its last legs; we need a new one.

Adjective

1. not in working order
   • had to push the broken-down car
   • a broken-down tractor fit only for children to play on
2. in deplorable condition
   • a street of bedraggled tenements
   • a broken-down fence
   • a ramshackle old pier
   • a tumble-down shack