ruin
Americannoun
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ruins
plural
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ruins, the remains of a building, city, etc., that has been destroyed or that is in disrepair or a state of decay.
We visited the ruins of ancient Greece.
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a destroyed or decayed building, town, etc.
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a fallen, wrecked, or decayed condition.
The building fell to ruin.
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the downfall, decay, or destruction of anything.
- Antonyms:
- creation, construction
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the complete loss of health, means, position, hope, or the like.
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something that causes a downfall or destruction; blight.
Alcohol was his ruin.
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the downfall of a person; undoing.
Fate decreed the ruin of Oedipus.
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a person as the wreck of their former self; ravaged individual.
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the act of causing destruction or a downfall.
verb (used with object)
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ruins,
present (3rd person singular)
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ruined,
past participle, past
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ruining
present participle
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to reduce to a fallen, wrecked, or decayed condition; devastate.
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to bring (a person, company, etc.) to financial destruction; bankrupt.
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to damage, spoil, or injure (a thing) irretrievably.
Not only was the burned stew inedible, but I had absolutely ruined one of my favorite pots.
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Older Use. to induce (a woman) to surrender her virginity; deflower.
verb (used without object)
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ruins,
present (3rd person singular)
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ruined,
past participle, past
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ruining
present participle
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to fall into decay; fall to pieces.
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to come to downfall or destruction.
noun
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destroyed or decayed building or town
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the state or condition of being destroyed or decayed
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loss of wealth, position, etc, or something that causes such loss; downfall
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something that is severely damaged
his life was a ruin
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a person who has suffered a downfall, bankruptcy, etc
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loss of value or usefulness
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archaic loss of her virginity by a woman outside marriage
verb
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(tr) to bring to ruin; destroy
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(tr) to injure or spoil
the town has been ruined with tower blocks
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archaic (intr) to fall into ruins; collapse
Usage
What does ruin mean? Ruin is most commonly used as a verb meaning to destroy or spoil. As a noun, ruin means the remains of a destroyed or decayed place, especially a half-standing building or city. It is most commonly used in the plural, as in ancient ruins. Example: I feel like the once-quiet atmosphere of the ancient ruins has been ruined by the presence of too many tourists and commercial vendors.
Synonym Usage
Ruin, destruction, havoc imply irrevocable and often widespread damage. Destruction may be on a large or small scale ( destruction of tissue, of enemy vessels ); it emphasizes particularly the act of destroying, while ruin and havoc emphasize the resultant state. Ruin, from the verb meaning to fall to pieces, suggests a state of decay or disintegration (or an object in that state) that is apt to be more the result of the natural processes of time and change than of sudden violent activity from without: The house has fallen to ruins. Only in its figurative application is it apt to suggest the result of destruction from without: the ruin of her hopes. Havoc, originally a cry that served as the signal for pillaging, has changed its reference from that of spoliation to devastation, being used particularly of the destruction following in the wake of natural calamities: the havoc wrought by flood and pestilence. Today it is used figuratively to refer to the destruction of hopes and plans: This sudden turn of events played havoc with her carefully laid designs. See spoil.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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ruinernoun
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self-ruinnoun
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half-ruinedadjective
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nonruinableadjective
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ruinableadjective
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self-ruinedadjective
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unruinableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ruinsimple
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ruinssimple
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have ruinedperfect
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has ruinedperfect
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am ruiningprogressive
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are ruiningprogressive
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is ruiningprogressive
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have been ruiningperfect progressive
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has been ruiningperfect progressive
Past
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ruinedsimple
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had ruinedperfect
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was ruiningprogressive
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were ruiningprogressive
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had been ruiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ruin
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English noun rueyne, ruyen, from Middle French ruwine, from Latin ruīna “headlong rush, fall, collapse,” equivalent to ruere “to fall” + -īna feminine singular of suffix -īnus; ; verb ultimately derivative of the noun; see -ine 2
Explanation
To ruin means to wreck or destroy. If you're wearing a long dress, make sure your clumsy brother stays away from you. If he steps on it, it'll rip and be ruined. Bad news always ruins your day and a guest's bad behavior can really ruin a party and all your fun! Be careful when adding salt to your food — too much will ruin it. Often you will see ruin used as a noun that means the state of ruin, the action that causes it or the destruction itself. If you are a ruin of your former self, you're in pretty bad shape. Use ruins for the remains of old castles and Roman structures.
Vocabulary lists containing ruin
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Others floated conspiracy theories accusing the mysterious “they” of trying to “control” Clavicular, or claiming he is besieged with “women trying to ruin his life with rumors.”
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Losing such a large amount “would absolutely ruin me financially,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Tresnjak’s production, which utilizes the 1956 adaptation by Maurice Valency, centers on the small town of Güllen, which is facing financial ruin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
One excursion was later refunded but - having worked in the aviation sector - Catie is annoyed that the air traffic problem extended so long as to ruin their holiday.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
That would be reason enough to ruin the show.
From "Hopping Mad (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #4)" by Franklin W. Dixon
“I do think if one of these billionaires ruins a franchise, you might have goombah football fans reading Karl Marx,” he said.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
At the scene of the second strike, an AFP correspondent saw the ruins of a devastated villa, with large decorative columns laying on their side next to stairs littered with rubble.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
From agricultural terraces to temple ruins under Mexico City to art collections and more, tourists can get a glimpse of Aztec life from 500 years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Before firefighters had finished extinguishing the blaze, I found Liliya Velyka, a 28-year-old book blogger, raking through the smouldering ruins, seeing if anything could be saved.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
“That sounds lovely,” Velia said sweetly, sounding like a heroine in one of those historical pieces on the arts channel instead of a modern-day girl stranded in the ruins of the Mexican countryside.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Marianne said, “I just wanted to tell you that you ruined my life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
It was a decision that ultimately ruined his life at the age of 32, his family says.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Influencers have ruined the US Open for actual tennis fans.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
His community struggles to survive a single harvest ruined by floods, and sees "the farmers are getting more and more aged, and the newer generation is not interested in farming."
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
I ruined any chance of locating my mom when I tore my only evidence into a million pieces.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
And, instead of ruining the game, artificial intelligence is now uncovering new ways of playing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
"I heard my fans were worried negativity was ruining things for me but... that could not be more than the opposite," she said on stage in Chicago.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
"Nothing is happening, updates are reaching us late. It's ruining our itinerary," 22-year-old traveller William Obino told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
Pastry-hunting tourists are ruining this Italian mountain refuge.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
“The brass stepped over it carefully, to avoid ruining the shine on their boots.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
