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

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

Even if your appliance feels cool to the touch, warm air rises and can make the top slightly warmer, slowly cooking the wine and ruining the flavor. — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026

And Hollywood really should stop ruining good shows trying to chase that approval. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026

The near-miss is one of the more potent and consequential instances of a hallucinating AI ruining the reliability of a professional report. — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2026

The scourge of Steve Spurrier Spurrier took too many verbal jabs to list here and took special glee in beating the Dawgs, never forgiving them for beating his Florida Gators in his 1966 senior season, ruining their SEC championship hopes. — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Museum putty or wax can help keep pieces in place without ruining either the tray or your collectibles. — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Sep. 2026