Synonyms of ruining

ruining

verb

present participle of ruin

1

as in bankrupting

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

• bankrupting
• busting
• reducing
• breaking
• impoverishing
• pauperizing
• beggaring
• wiping out
• cleaning (out)
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• enriching
• richening

2

as in destroying

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action

tornadoes ruined a wide swath of the county

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroying
• ravaging
• devastating
• wrecking
• plundering
• scourging
• stripping
• shattering
• obliterating
• despoiling
• eradicating
• sacking
• wasting
• looting
• pillaging
• vaporizing
• decimating
• marauding
• extinguishing
• annihilating
• demolishing
• expunging
• smashing
• extirpating
• wiping out
• harrying
• overwhelming
• wracking
• totaling
• mowing
• nuking
• desolating
• overthrowing
• razing
• overrunning
• overpowering
• foraying
• crushing
• rubbing out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restoring
• recovering
• rehabilitating
• repairing
• fixing
• redeeming
• reconditioning
• mending
• patching
• revamping

3

as in wrecking

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

• destroying
• wrecking
• demolishing
• shattering
• devastating
• smashing
• damaging
• wasting
• overcoming
• eroding
• decimating
• annihilating
• extinguishing
• marring
• vaporizing
• pulverizing
• ravaging
• razing
• crippling
• killing
• totaling
• creaming
• wracking
• tearing down
• crushing
• breaking
• dismantling
• pulling down
• removing
• nuking
• defeating
• doing in
• blasting
• spoiling
• harming
• injuring
• impairing
• desolating
• subduing
• deteriorating
• disintegrating
• conquering
• rubbing out
• trimming
• mutilating
• licking
• mastering
• prevailing (over)
• winning (against)
• clobbering
• dissolving
• defacing
• eradicating
• whipping
• disfiguring
• obliterating
• surmounting
• dynamiting
• undoing
• mangling
• routing
• vitiating
• wearing (away)
• besting
• gutting
• thrashing
• scouring
• triumphing (over)
• sweeping (away)
• beating
• slaughtering
• vandalizing
• exterminating
• assassinating
• murdering
• plundering
• trampling
• despoiling
• disassembling
• walloping
• sacking
• expunging
• trashing
• blowing up
• liquidating
• trouncing
• extirpating
• looting
• overbearing
• washing out
• effacing
• wiping out
• massacring
• overmatching
• executing
• pillaging
• taking down
• scotching
• cutting down
• butchering
• slaying
• drubbing
• blotting out
• zapping
• stamping (out)
• unmaking
• dilapidating
• skunking
• rooting (out)
• dispatching
• killing off
• snuffing (out)
• taking out
• felling
• mowing (down)
• unbuilding
• havocking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• constructing
• creating
• raising
• repairing
• fixing
• erecting
• rearing
• setting up
• making
• producing
• forming
• shaping
• putting up
• inventing
• establishing
• manufacturing
• protecting
• assembling
• forging
• organizing
• preserving
• saving
• framing
• revamping
• patching
• molding
• fashioning
• fabricating
• constituting
• instituting
• mending
• bringing about
• reconditioning
• restoring
• doctoring
• conserving
• founding
• rebuilding
• reconstructing
• remodeling
• fathering
• renovating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ruining

Someone else even complained about the self-clean feature ruining their appliance. — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Nov. 2026

Most hunters probably would have taken a shot at the five-pointer, ruining their chances for the record-class bull. — Rich Larocco, Outdoor Life, 2 Nov. 2026

Russell’s hybrid system derated halfway down the straight, ruining his race well before the first corner. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 2 Nov. 2026

On Mljet, while walking back from the lakes with our wet hair dripping down our backs, someone asks whether anyone has a hair mask, because the sea salt is wrecking hers and ruining her extensions. — Michaela Trimble, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Oct. 2026

The other was the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, who beat the Heat in six games in the NBA Finals, ruining the first year of the Big 3 era in Miami. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026

The song is a cautionary tale about a brothel in New Orleans known for ruining many poor girls. — Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026

As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Seaver also allegedly threatened to start a podcast dedicated to ruining Parton’s image unless he was paid. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026