ruin

ruin

verb

Definition of RUIN

1

to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts <after he was ruined by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the industrialist was forced to sell his mansion and start all over again>

Synonyms bankrupt, break, bust

Related Words beggar, impoverish, pauperize; reduce, straiten; clean (out), wipe out

Near Antonyms enrich, richen

2

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action <tornadoes ruined a wide swath of the county>

Synonyms destroy, devastate, ruin, scourge

Related Words despoil, foray, harry, loot, maraud, pillage, plunder, sack, strip; annihilate, desolate, eradicate, expunge, extinguish, extirpate, nuke, obliterate, rub out, shatter, smash, total, vaporize, waste, wipe out, wrack, wreck; decimate, mow; demolish, raze; crush, overpower, overrun, overthrow, overwhelm

Near Antonyms recondition, recover, redeem, rehabilitate, restore; fix, mend, patch, repair, revamp

3

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of <a huge fire that ruined an entire city block>

Synonyms annihilate, cream, decimate, demolish, desolate, devastate, do in, extinguish, nuke, pull down, pulverize, raze, rub out, ruin, shatter, smash, tear down, total, vaporize, waste, wrack, wreck

Related Words beat, best, clobber, conquer, crush, defeat, drub, lick, master, overbear, overcome, overmatch, prevail (over), rout, scotch, skunk, subdue, surmount, thrash, trim, triumph (over), trounce, wallop, whip, win (against); blast, blow up, break, cripple, damage, deface, deteriorate, disfigure, disintegrate, dissolve, dynamite, harm, impair, injure, mangle, mar, mutilate, spoil, vitiate; erode, scour, sweep (away), wash out, wear (away); dilapidate, disassemble, dismantle, gut, take down, unbuild, undo, unmake; blot out, efface, eradicate, expunge, exterminate, extirpate, liquidate, obliterate, remove, root (out), snuff (out), stamp (out), wipe out; despoil, havoc, loot, pillage, plunder, ravage, sack, trample, trash, vandalize; assassinate, butcher, cut down, dispatch, execute, fell, kill, kill off, massacre, mow (down), murder, slaughter, slay, take out, zap

Near Antonyms doctor, fix, mend, patch, recondition, repair, revamp; create, invent; assemble, fabricate, fashion, forge, form, frame, make, manufacture, mold, produce, shape; bring about, constitute, establish, father, found, institute, organize; conserve, preserve, protect, save; rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, renovate, restore

Antonyms build, construct, erect, put up, raise, rear, set up