1
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devastating
causing or tending to cause destruction
a ruinous windstorm destroyed the crops
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ruinous
Their efforts soon bore strange and ruinous fruit.
—
Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Wrinkles, sun spots and sagging skin have become so demonized, that even teenagers — decades away from this reality — and increasingly men, previously exempt from this ruinous beauty standard, have started to fear, anticipate and prepare for their arrival.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 2026
Slowly, Castro’s cronies built a kleptocracy that proved ruinous to the Cuban people, but hugely profitable to them.
—Quico Toro, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, county officials will need to save all their firepower to fight a ruinous plan to slash funding the county depends on for essential functions like emergency services.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Wrinkles, sun spots and sagging skin have become so demonized, that even teenagers — decades away from this reality — and increasingly men, previously exempt from this ruinous beauty standard, have started to fear, anticipate and prepare for their arrival.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 2026
Slowly, Castro’s cronies built a kleptocracy that proved ruinous to the Cuban people, but hugely profitable to them.
—Quico Toro, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, county officials will need to save all their firepower to fight a ruinous plan to slash funding the county depends on for essential functions like emergency services.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruinous
Adjective
-
Stearns had nothing to do with any of them — and everything to do with the disastrous offseason that made the Mets the worst team in baseball for most of April.—
Bill Madden,
New York Daily News,
16 May 2026
-
Based on a script by Justin Varava that made the 2024 Black List, Turpentine follows a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Nearly all industrial hydrogen is currently produced by stripping it from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, a process that emits devastating amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
18 May 2026
-
Putin has claimed that Oreshnik’s multiple warheads plunge at speeds of up to Mach 10 and can’t be intercepted, and that several such missiles used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
Two Connecticut State Police troopers have been cleared in connection with a fatal shooting in Bozrah last August after the state Inspector General concluded that the armed woman who was shot was apparently trying to commit suicide by cop.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 2026
-
The star died in 2009, at age 50, of cardiac arrest due to a fatal dose of propofol and other drugs.—
Chris Murphy,
Vanity Fair,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
Drought conditions in Georgia have worsened since the project was announced, and today, the whole state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought, with destructive wildfires burning in the southern part of Georgia.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
13 May 2026
-
Derrick was charged with manufacturing explosive materials without a license, unlawfully possessing an unregistered destructive device and distributing information related to the manufacture of explosives.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
However, Cincinnati and Washington have been done in by unfortunate injuries and organizational disorder.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
-
The unfortunate problem is that, like most other things, the system can be gamed—people could submit flawed content that lists people as authors who have never been involved.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
In July 1997, parts of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic were struck by catastrophic river flooding that left more than 100 people dead.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
14 May 2026
-
Blake scrambles back to prevent the catastrophic, but the shot flies over the bar.—
Franklin Leonard,
Vanity Fair,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruinous. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
