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Slocawber Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

an adjective for an old car

What adjective is normally used to indicate that a car is old, not working well and has a damaged bodywork?
I need an adjective that can be used after the verb to be (not only before a noun).
Thank you
P.S. Could you use the same adjective to refer to a broken toy?
  

Top answer

I would describe a car like that as .... For spare parts For breaking Needs some work This would also be a useful comment ... Sold as seen

— Anonymous

  • I would describe a car like that as ....
  • For spare parts For breaking Needs some work This would also be a useful comment ...
  • Sold as seen
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12 Answers
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I would describe a car like that as ....
For spare parts
For breaking
Needs some work

This would also be a useful comment ...
Sold as seen
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In the UK we could say "clapped out".
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In the U.S., that car is "a lemon."
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khoffIn the U.S., that car is "a lemon."
Emotion: thinking Is that the way they use "lemon" where you're
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I take "lemon" to be a new car that turns out to have frequent problems. I would call an old, shabby car a "clunker" or "junker", depending on how bad it is. Those are nouns, though.
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Blue Jay"clunker"
Yes, and I believe that in the old days they used the word "jalopy", but as far as I know, that was ages ago.

CJ
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In the UK I would call it an "old banger".
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CalifJimI've always heard it used differently — a car you bought brand new that looked great and worked beautifully the first week, but that in the next three months or so turned out to have a series of problems that kept showing up because of shoddy workmanship at the factory.
That's how I understood it too.
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In reference to Part 2 of the original question, "Could you use the same adjective to refer to a broken toy?" none of the suggestions we've offered work very well for a toy. "Clapped out" could be applied to machines other than cars, perhaps. The rest are specific to cars.
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Blue JayIn reference to Part 2 of the original question, "Could you use the same adjective to refer to a broken toy?" none of the suggestions we've offered work very well for a toy. "Clapped out" could be applied to machines other than cars, perhaps. The rest are specific to cars.
I do sometimes hear "clapped out" used for miscellaneous non-mechanical items, e
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