Decrepit means worn out and falling apart with age. Still standing, and only just.
It describes buildings, vehicles and machinery, and a decrepit old van is one that starts on a good day. Applied to people it is unkind, since it means physically broken down by age, and it is usually used jokingly about oneself. The word is stronger than shabby and less affectionate than ramshackle. The noun is decrepitude, which is thoroughly formal and appears mostly in writing about old age.
1adjectivedecrepitWorn out and in poor condition through age or long use.
“They arrived in a decrepit estate car.”
Decrepit creaks. Latin crepō meant to creak or rattle, and dēcrepitus meant very old, so the word is listening to the joints.
Latin
dēcrepitus — very old
Middle French
décrépit
Middle English
decrepyt
English, today
decrepit
Built from
From Middle English decrepyt (ante 1439), from Middle French décrépit, from Latin dēcrepitus (“very old”), from crepō (“to creak”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA