/ ˈræmʃækl; NAmE / adjective
1.
( of buildings, vehicles, furniture, etc. ) in a very bad condition and needing repair
SYN tumbledown
2.
( of an organization or a system ) badly organized or designed and not likely to last very long
SYN rickety
••
WORD ORIGIN
early 19th cent. (originally dialect in the sense irregular, disorderly ): alteration of earlier ramshackled , altered form of obsolete ransackled ransacked .