run-down shabby house
Refers to a dilapidated, ramshackle house or building. Often used in casual or descriptive contexts.
He lives alone in a run-down shabby house.
rag and scrap merchant
Archaic term for a dealer in rags and scrap materials. Not used in modern Japanese; historical or literary contexts only.
あのボロ家はもうすぐ取り壊されるらしい。
I heard that shabby house is going to be torn down soon.
In the Edo period, there were merchants called ボロ屋 who dealt in old clothes and scrap.
あばら家 also means a dilapidated house, but is more literary and less colloquial than ボロ家.
廃屋 means an abandoned house, emphasizing emptiness rather than shabbiness.
Common katakana-kanji mixed spelling for 'shabby house'.
Hiragana-kanji mixed spelling.
Alternate common spelling using 屋 for 'house/shop'.
Hiragana-kanji mixed spelling.
Rarely used kanji form; 襤褸 is a complex ateji for ぼろ.
Rarely used kanji form.
Compound of ぼろ (rag, scrap, shabby) and 家/屋 (house). The kanji 襤褸 is ateji for ぼろ.