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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in destroying
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 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

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 ruining Plus, one of the biggest things that holds people back from DIY is a fear of ruining their home, but that’s virtually impossible with peel-and-stick wallpaper. — Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 13 July 2026 Clothes moths are indoor pests notorious for ruining the best threads in any closet. — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026 But the neighboring 171-feet Shelborne By Proper hotel says the new tower will cast a shadow over its pool, ruining the experience for guests at the luxury hotel. — Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026 Water had seeped in everywhere on that floor, ruining the carpet, as well as other items. — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 4 July 2026 Trump has accused vandals of ruining the pool, and redirected officers to police the area. — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 3 July 2026 After all, plenty of cocktail enthusiasts already complain about mosquitoes ruining a summer evening. — Emily Price, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 Adidas’s everyday sneakers can handle 20,000 steps without ruining an outfit, perfectly balancing cool with comfy. — Kaelin Dodge, InStyle, 22 June 2026 The Cowboys are like most NFL teams that roll out a synthetic surface that has a grass feel, and is vastly superior to the old knee-ruining ways of AstroTurf. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruining
  1. bankrupting
  2. destroying
  3. wrecking
  4. ravaging
  5. demolishing
  6. devastating
  7. shattering
  8. smashing
Verb
  • French money underwrote the American Revolution, bankrupting Louis XVI’s government and paving the way for their own revolution within a decade of the end of the American war.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 9 July 2026
  • Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 31 May 2026
Definition of bankrupting
Verb
  • After flying toward a naval target over the Black Sea, the aircraft launched one of the supersonic missiles from a stand-off distance exceeding 120 kilometers, successfully destroying its target.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026
  • Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigators are probing a destructive fire that ripped through a Sun Valley strip mall early Sunday morning, destroying a beloved family-run market.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 14 July 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • Long-distance backpacking is having a moment, and readers planning a first thru-hike want to know how to prepare without wrecking their body, their gear budget or their trip.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 July 2026
  • Most of the peril comes with dangerous ship-wrecking moments, including one that implies the death of Moana's relative, while our heroine herself almost drowns on her first voyage from land.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 July 2026
Definition of wrecking
Verb
  • Bigger fires have been ravaging areas of southern France, but the Fontainebleau fire is exceptionally close to the densely populated region surrounding the French capital.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026
  • Over the past two seasons, UCLA has remarkably maintained the majority of its talent despite the transfer portal ravaging so many teams.
    — Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 9 July 2026
Definition of ravaging
Verb
  • Beyond the environmental costs, demolishing and hauling away the remnants of huge buildings is especially expensive in dense cities such as New York.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 July 2026
  • This project, which is under review by the city, proposes demolishing the long-defunct Kmart building and bringing residences, shops and a new Publix to the plaza.
    — Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 9 July 2026
Definition of demolishing
Verb
  • Instead, Trump talks about devastating Iran’s infrastructure – hitting bridges and power plants.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Over 850 wildfires are currently devastating Canada, as reported by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of devastating
Verb
  • SoCal’s housing market growth SpaceX’s record-shattering IPO has unleashed a wave of high-end home shoppers poised to reshape Southern California’s already tight coastal housing markets.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
  • At the very least, the attacks have brought the war home even more poignantly for millions of Russians, shattering Putin’s narrative of the conflict as something that doesn’t affect the lives of ordinary people in his country.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 July 2026
Definition of shattering
Verb
  • Stacking layers like a gourmet burger is the secret behind smashing efficiency and stability records.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026
  • Djokovic became so frustrated that he was given a code violation warning for smashing a racket, before eventually hauling himself over the line.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of smashing

Browse Nearby Words

ruing
ruining
ruinous
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ruining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruining. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on ruining

Nglish: Translation of ruining for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All