1
as in to bankrupt
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 & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to destroy
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action
tornadoes ruined a wide swath of the county
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to devastate
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
a huge fire that ruined an entire city block
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in destruction
the state or fact of being rendered nonexistent, physically unsound, or useless
a vicious bombardment that left the building in ruins
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wreck
ruins plural
the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
the ruins of an abandoned abbey
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in bankruptcy
the inability to pay one's debts
the family faces ruin if the chief breadwinner doesn't find another job very soon
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4
as in downfall
something that is the cause of one's ultimate failure or loss of life
the politician's eventual ruin would be a sexual indiscretion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruin
Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
New York used to be so pretty before we, as a culture, ruined it.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 23 June 2025
Eva Frederick, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
The trail leads from the visitor center to the ruins of the Butterfield Overland Stage Stop, part of the mail route that ran from San Francisco to St. Louis in the mid-1800s, carrying mail and passengers across wild, western terrain.
—Eva Frederick, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruin
Verb
Committing crimes would only draw attention to them, speed their deportation and ruin their families.
—Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025
New York used to be so pretty before we, as a culture, ruined it.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 23 June 2025
Noun
The Butterfield route was short-lived and ended with the start of the Civil War, but traces of it remain in Guadalupe Mountains National Park along the Pinery Trail, which leads to the ruins of a stop on the route, the old Pinery Station.
—Eva Frederick, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
The trail leads from the visitor center to the ruins of the Butterfield Overland Stage Stop, part of the mail route that ran from San Francisco to St. Louis in the mid-1800s, carrying mail and passengers across wild, western terrain.
—Eva Frederick, Travel + Leisure, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruin
Verb
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But even back then, legislators feared that the cost of covering long-term care would bankrupt the Medicare program, as law professor Sidney Watson recounts in her review of this history.—
Kat McGowan,
NPR,
20 June 2025
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If your goal were to bankrupt America and destabilize the world, dragging us into another endless Middle East war would be the way to do it.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
Verb
-
In September 2024, the same month as the pager attack and assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Israel launched the most extensive campaign of airstrikes in the air force’s history hitherto, destroying much of Hezbollah’s strategic surface-to-surface missile stockpiles.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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This is the signature style of Russian killers — to destroy life by all methods at their disposal.—
Anders Hagstrom,
FOXNews.com,
30 June 2025
Verb
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People were aware of the risk of fires following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a 1923 magnitude 8 earthquake and firestorm that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, causing an astonishing 142,800 deaths, according to the USGS.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
29 June 2025
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He’s been through adversity and grown stronger James’ drive to give back began during his freshman year at Tulane, when Hurricane Ida devastated New Orleans.—
Shane Connuck
June 26,
Charlotte Observer,
27 June 2025
Noun
-
Leave the innocents, the children, the ones who just want to live a simple life, out of the bombing and destruction.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
-
Europeans associate all things nuclear with destruction more than with deterrence.—
FLORENCE GAUB,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
Noun
-
All lanes of eastbound I-70 were closed for about 2 1/2 hours while police investigated the fatal wreck.—
Robert A. Cronkleton,
Kansas City Star,
19 June 2025
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Beyond the anemones, the wreck is bursting with other marine life, hosting species like Cabezon, Lingcod, and Quillback rockfish.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 June 2025
Noun
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Despite Regeneron's pledges to honor 23andMe's privacy policies, more than two dozen states sued to halt the deal, arguing that genetic information is a unique and fundamentally different type of property than the kind that might normally change hands in a bankruptcy sale.—
John Ruwitch,
NPR,
30 June 2025
-
Waters bought the team out of bankruptcy for roughly $7 million in June 2015.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
27 June 2025
Noun
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While there’s no telling what the next two films might have in store for her character, knowing the traditionalism of ritualism of the village, there is perhaps some allusion to Arthur’s sister Morgana, who became his downfall.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
23 June 2025
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But Dehghani speculated that such a move would probably expand the war and end in Khamenei’s downfall, as a rival faction would then be motivated to seize the reins and seek peace with the United States.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
22 June 2025
Verb
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In Please Don't Feed the Children, Destry's camera follows a group of teenagers on the run in a dystopian United States ravaged by disease.—
Tommy McArdle,
People.com,
25 June 2025
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Newcomer Alfie Williams breathes new life into the pulsating horror as Spike, a 12-year-old boy who resides on a small British island with a community of survivors, 28 years after the rage virus first ravaged the United Kingdom.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
22 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ruin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruin. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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