From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishderelictder‧e‧lict1 /ˈderəlɪkt/ adjective CONDITION/STATE OF somethinga derelict building or piece of land is in very bad condition because it has not been used for a long time
Examples from the Corpus
derelict• Today the site of the Mill is derelict.• The land behind the factory is stony and derelict.• An' the entire derelict bloody city an' all.• In the middle of town is a derelict building that used to be the school.• Sandra paints from photographs she takes of old, often derelict buildings.• This had become a wilderness of weeds and bushes but hidden deep inside was a derelict conservatory demanding to be restored.• It includes derelict factories and some of the poorest housing in the country.• derelict homes and businesses• The derelict PBYs were thoroughly exploded for the film.• Now they've been given a derelict school building, gutted by fire, for their new community association.• The site has been derelict since the 1960s, when the old gas works was demolished.derelictderelict2 noun [countable] POORsomeone who has no money or home, lives on the streets, and is very dirty – used to show disapprovalExamples from the Corpus
derelict• Most witches were women, often aged derelicts who wielded great influence over the people.• The park was swarming with students and drug dealers, tourists and derelicts.• The neighborhood is dominated by the Waterloo train station and peopled by derelicts late at night.• Dons were no longer the comic derelicts that flit through Victorian fiction or the novels of Evelyn Waugh.• He seemed to take for granted that she would share his views on the derelicts.Origin derelict1 (1600-1700) Latin derelictus, past participle of derelinquere “to leave something you are responsible for” 