1
2
: causing or tending to cause ruin
ruinously
adverb
ruinousness
noun
Examples of ruinous in a Sentence
The house has fallen into a ruinous state.
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
Recent Examples on the Web
There are more lecture tours, and ruinous business adventures — the financial writer in Chernow is more at ease with this material.
—
Dwight Garner, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Its timelines collapse and blur, and its characters are bound by ruinous, inescapable fates; the reader cannot avoid disorientation.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
This would give Trump a partial win, avoid hurting his base and prevent ruinous cuts to Medicaid.
—Arthur L. Kellermann, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
The share of seniors will more than double in most countries by midcentury, pushing support ratios (the number of workers per retiree) to ruinous levels; China’s, for example, will fall from ten to one in 2000 to under two to one by 2050.
—Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
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Dwight Garner, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Its timelines collapse and blur, and its characters are bound by ruinous, inescapable fates; the reader cannot avoid disorientation.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
This would give Trump a partial win, avoid hurting his base and prevent ruinous cuts to Medicaid.
—Arthur L. Kellermann, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
The share of seniors will more than double in most countries by midcentury, pushing support ratios (the number of workers per retiree) to ruinous levels; China’s, for example, will fall from ten to one in 2000 to under two to one by 2050.
—Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruinous. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ruinous
adjective
ru·in·ous
ˈrü-ə-nəs 
: causing or tending to cause ruin : destructive
ruinously
adverb
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