derelict

Meaning

Adj

1. Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
2. (specifically) Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken.
3. (broadly) Of property: in a poor state due to abandonment or neglect; dilapidated, neglected.
4. (figuratively) Adrift, lost.
5. (US) Negligent in performing a duty; careless.

Noun

1. (uncountable) Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property.
2. (specifically, uncountable) Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property.
3. (countable, dated) An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast, a waif.
4. (broadly, countable, derogatory) A homeless or jobless person; a vagrant; also, a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their hygiene and personal affairs.
5. (US, countable) A person who is negligent in performing a duty.

Verb

1. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To abandon or forsake (someone or something).
2. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To neglect a duty.

Synonyms

deserted

abandoned

desolate

dilapidated

forsaken

delinquent

flea-bitten

decrepit

neglected

tumble-down

ramshackle

creaky

vagrant

neglect

woebegone

broken-down

outcast

ownerless

abandoned ship

reject

bedraggled

remiss

run-down

neglectful

tatterdemalion

tramp

tottery

unfaithful

unowned

vagabond

wild

wreck

waste

beggar

bleak

bum

castaway

cheerless

crumbly

debased

desert

🏜️

doleful

dutiful

floppy

forlorn

groggy

homeless

hulk

leper

lonesome

lorn

pariah

reliable

relinquished

rude

shameless

shipwreck

sloppy

Translations

verlassen

négligent

délaissé

abandonado

abandonné

épave

vieux

🧓

clochard

abandon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈdɛɹɪlɪkt/

Etymology

Cognate with Latin: rē-

In summary

PIE word
*de
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.