ruinous
Americanadjective
-
bringing or tending to bring ruin; destructive; disastrous.
a ruinous war.
- Synonyms:
- catastrophic, devastating, calamitous
-
fallen into ruin; dilapidated.
a ruinous house.
-
consisting of ruins.
a ruinous city from antiquity.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ruinous
1350–1400; Middle English ruynouse < Latin ruīnōsus, equivalent to ruīn ( a ) ruin + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Something ruinous is really terrible or devastating, like a ruinous hurricane that floods your house or the ruinous effect of a new law on a country's poorest citizens. The adjective ruinous perfectly describes something so bad that it truly causes ruin, "the destruction or disintegration of something." A house fire can be ruinous, and so can a bad hand at a poker table, if the player has bet her last dollar. Ruinous and ruin comes from the Latin root ruina, "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down."
Vocabulary lists containing ruinous
Hamilton
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "Q" "R" and "S"
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Dubliners
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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.
Firstly, it is important to note that two countries previously wracked by ruinous civil wars – Iraq and Syria – are now largely peaceful and stable, at least compared to where they were.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The project was in a ruinous state—its upgrader, a facility that turns heavy crude into a lighter synthetic oil, needed major repairs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
That’s how fast it is supposed to be able to grow without stoking ruinous inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026
Ye ran through the ruinous effects of his injury and subsequent diagnosis, saying it caused him to avoid seeking the help he needed.
From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2026
The ruinous decade had scarred the city, as it had every other: poor boxes on the street, people living on railcars.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
