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
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
Opponents complained that annexing the whole of Mexico would be financially ruinous, and frowned upon having the military indefinitely deployed to Mexico, where most of the citizens would not welcome them.
—Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
And that is far too short, far too error-filled and far too financially ruinous to be sweet for the game’s health.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
In a state where ruinous wildfires are commonplace and the threat of catastrophic earthquakes haunts imaginations, Cal OES officials wanted to make sure the new system had redundancies to prevent widespread failure.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
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Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
Opponents complained that annexing the whole of Mexico would be financially ruinous, and frowned upon having the military indefinitely deployed to Mexico, where most of the citizens would not welcome them.
—Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
And that is far too short, far too error-filled and far too financially ruinous to be sweet for the game’s health.
—Paul Newman, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
In a state where ruinous wildfires are commonplace and the threat of catastrophic earthquakes haunts imaginations, Cal OES officials wanted to make sure the new system had redundancies to prevent widespread failure.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 23 Nov. 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 30 Jan. 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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