jalopy

noun

ja·​lopy jə-ˈlä-pē How to pronounce jalopy (audio)
plural jalopies
: a dilapidated old vehicle (such as an automobile)

Examples of jalopy in a Sentence

They were shocked when the jalopy sitting in the barn actually started. his parents gave him an old jalopy for school
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Golf carts resemble the Joad’s family jalopy in the film classic, The Grapes of Wrath, packed to the hilt with jumbo, floating water mats, some 20 feet in length, colossal floats better suited for the Macy’s Day Parade, and the largest sand robber of them all, the canvas beach cabana. Steve Cambria, Hartford Courant, 4 Aug. 2024 Do your annoying neighbors constantly park their old jalopy in front of your home? Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 30 July 2024 Visits by this jalopy to a grandmother carry memories of a seashore where the barbed wire and antitank blocks are just being cleared away, and where rock pools shine to his boy’s eye with secret, depthless life. Colin Thubron, The New York Review of Books, 19 Jan. 2023 How can cinema, a rickety old jalopy that started its motor in the early twentieth century, hope to keep pace with that? Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for jalopy 

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of jalopy was in 1928

Dictionary Entries Near jalopy

Cite this Entry

“Jalopy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jalopy. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

jalopy

noun
ja·​lopy jə-ˈläp-ē How to pronounce jalopy (audio)
plural jalopies
: a worn-out old automobile

More from Merriam-Webster on jalopy

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!