Used before a noun to describe a building that is old, broken, and slowly falling apart — walls leaning, roof with holes, no one taking care of it. It comes straight from the phrase 'tumble down', meaning to fall down, so the picture inside the word is a house that is halfway through collapsing.

Used before a noun用在名詞前面 to describe a building that is old broken and slowly falling apart形容一棟又老又破、慢慢崩塌的建築 walls leaning牆歪了 roof with holes屋頂有破洞 no one taking care of it沒人照顧它 It comes straight from the phrase 'tumble down'這個字直接來自'tumble down'這個片語 meaning to fall down意思是倒下來 so the picture inside the word is a house that is halfway through collapsing所以字裡的畫面是一棟蓋到一半垮掉的房子

It is almost always used about buildings: a tumbledown cottage, a tumbledown barn, a tumbledown wall.

It is almost always幾乎總是 used about buildings用來講建築 a tumbledown cottagetumbledown小屋 a tumbledown barntumbledown穀倉 a tumbledown walltumbledown圍牆

Two things worth telling your students. First, it is a slightly literary, storybook word — you meet it in novels, travel writing, and estate-agent language more than in daily speech. Second, and this is the interesting part, it is not purely negative.

Two things worth telling your students有兩件事值得告訴學生 First第一 it is a slightly literary storybook word這是個帶點文學、故事書味道的字 you meet it in novels你會在小說裡遇到它 travel writing在遊記裡 and estate-agent language還有房仲的用語裡 more than in daily speech比在日常對話裡更常見 Second第二 and this is the interesting part這是有趣的地方 it is not purely negative它不完全是負面的

English has plenty of ugly words for a broken building; 'tumbledown' often carries a touch of charm, the kind of ruin a painter would want to paint. A 'tumbledown cottage in the hills' sounds romantic. A 'derelict building' does not.

English has plenty of ugly words for a broken building英文有很多難聽的字形容破房子 'tumbledown' often carries a touch of charm'tumbledown'常常帶點迷人的味道 the kind of ruin a painter would want to paint是那種畫家會想畫下來的廢墟 A 'tumbledown cottage in the hills''山裡一間tumbledown小屋' sounds romantic聽起來很浪漫 A 'derelict building''一棟derelict建築' does not就不會