1
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devastating
causing or tending to cause destruction
a ruinous windstorm destroyed the crops
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruinous
But in the absence of stable governance and effective regulations since the 1991 civil war, foreign fishing trawlers have deployed ruinous techniques to exploit the rich fishing environment.
—
Soham Mitra, Lou Robinson and Patrick Gallagher, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Wielding the language of liberal internationalism to justify ruinous intervention abroad has long been the modus operandi of the neoconservatives, who, since the ascendancy of Trump over the Republican Party, have gravitated back to their original home among the Democrats.
—Anatol Lieven, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
Sudan: The Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group battling for power in the nation’s ruinous civil war, announced plans to form a breakaway government.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
For typical investors, such high leverage can be ruinous.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Soham Mitra, Lou Robinson and Patrick Gallagher, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Wielding the language of liberal internationalism to justify ruinous intervention abroad has long been the modus operandi of the neoconservatives, who, since the ascendancy of Trump over the Republican Party, have gravitated back to their original home among the Democrats.
—Anatol Lieven, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
Sudan: The Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group battling for power in the nation’s ruinous civil war, announced plans to form a breakaway government.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
For typical investors, such high leverage can be ruinous.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruinous
Adjective
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If tax reform isn’t approached thoughtfully, the impact on those already facing significant challenges could be disastrous.—
Jack Salmon,
National Review,
14 Apr. 2025
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Apple had seemed to resolve this with its Private Cloud Compute, but then its disastrous Apple Intelligence delays made all that somewhat academic for the time being at least.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Trump has attempted to crack down on pro-Palestinian campus protests against U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza, which has caused a humanitarian crisis in the enclave and followed a deadly October 2023 attack by Islamist group Hamas.—
Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2025
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The Buccaneers' defense, armed with Gruden's insights and featuring future Hall of Famers Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch, overwhelmed Oakland's offense in a devastating 48-21 defeat.—
Omaid Homayun,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Black lung, a debilitating and often fatal condition caused by inhalation of coal and silica dust during mining, affects roughly 1 in 5 miners who have worked in the Central Appalachian mines for twenty-five years or more, according to NIOSH.—
Dr. Mark Abdelmalek,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2025
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The day of the fatal fall, Goodwin said Bass had checked on Tidus and his brother minutes prior, and then had stepped outside with the dog.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The Los Angeles region is rebuilding two communities after the most destructive wildfires in Southern California’s history.—
Laurel Rosenhall,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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Back-to-back-to-back deadly and destructive tornado outbreaks in recent weeks have put a punctuation mark on what’s been an unusually active start to the year for thunderstorms in the United States.—
Mary Gilbert,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The self-deportation of a University of Florida student reveals the new reality for many immigrants — any brush with the law can set off a chain of unfortunate events.—
Clara-Sophia Daly,
Miami Herald,
10 Apr. 2025
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In an unfortunate piece of timing, the management consultancy Arthur D Little published its third annual global CEO Insights study at the beginning of this week, just as the world’s markets were taking in the impact of President Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs policy.—
Roger Trapp,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruinous. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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