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
The darker strands of the young Tennyson’s existence—madness, spurned love, ruinous genes, insolvency—would become the themes of a later poem that Holmes regards as pivotal.
—
James Parker, The Atlantic, 10 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
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James Parker, The Atlantic, 10 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
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruinous. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ruinous
adjective
ru·in·ous
ˈrü-ə-nəs 
: causing or tending to cause ruin : destructive
ruinously
adverb
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