1
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruinous
Now, in a ruinous turnaround, the city has decided that, when updating community plans, adequate infrastructure doesn’t matter anymore.
—
Nico Calavita, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
Arthur inherited his father’s alcoholism and propensity for violence, with such ruinous results that he was eventually institutionalized as well.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
And if the hypotheticals are not enough to dissuade, history is littered with teams trading away their future for immediate glories, seeing their plans implode, and being left with a ruinous future that becomes a hopeless present while another team reaps the benefits.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2026
Dinner might have been ruined, but this certainly was not any sort of ruinous trade for either team.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Nico Calavita, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
Arthur inherited his father’s alcoholism and propensity for violence, with such ruinous results that he was eventually institutionalized as well.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
And if the hypotheticals are not enough to dissuade, history is littered with teams trading away their future for immediate glories, seeing their plans implode, and being left with a ruinous future that becomes a hopeless present while another team reaps the benefits.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2026
Dinner might have been ruined, but this certainly was not any sort of ruinous trade for either team.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruinous
Adjective
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Duke appeared to be too much for the Huskies, who went more than five minutes without scoring during a disastrous first-half stretch to fall behind, 44-25.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
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And years later, when the group splintered into increasingly militant factions, some took part in a disastrous bank robbery that killed an innocent guard and two police officers—three men who were just doing their jobs that day, and who left behind their own kids, their own families.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Just days later, Duke suffered a devastating loss with a Final Four berth on the line.—
Cole Sullivan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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The Pentagon is reportedly preparing for weeks of ground operations inside Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal, including a potentially devastating and dangerous mission to excavate uranium from the country.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That is the highest-level designation for severe accidents, placing it alongside the fatal Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) shuttle disasters in terms of gravity.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Mar. 2026
-
The cause of that fatal accident remains under investigation.—
Anna McAllister,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The team’s approach effectively enabled non-destructive quality control.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Apr. 2026
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Indonesia’s meteorological agency lifted its tsunami warning hours after the quake, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said there was no destructive threat to the country, which is north of the quake’s epicenter.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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That house has a history of unfortunate events, including the fate of Cookie, an errant heiress and her pooch.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
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The start of 2026 has been a series of unfortunate events for Michelle Harris and her family.—
Monique John,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Much like with the newspaper industry, the internet has had a similar impact on radio stations, just not quite as catastrophic.—
Mac Engel
April 2,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Apr. 2026
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Most notably — and most devastatingly — Woods was involved in a one-car rollover crash in Los Angeles in February 2021, which left him with catastrophic leg injuries.—
Megan Armstrong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruinous. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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