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.

The “safe” track carries strict liability for any harm, which is cheap for a genuinely safe firm but ruinously expensive for a risky one.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

He notes that the demands were so outlandish that submitting "would have been ruinously expensive and completely impractical."

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2025

For a poor country, just emerging from decades of Soviet rule, the idea of maintaining a ruinously expensive nuclear arsenal made little sense.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2024

An unexamined life may not be worth living, but an examined one can be ruinously expensive.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

There were ruinously expensive candies called voulay drops, made by centaurs in the mountains of Antiok.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell