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

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2
as in destroying
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action tornadoes ruined a wide swath of the county

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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

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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 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 The Dodgers are ruining baseball! — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026 The fire, which took place on June 17 had destroyed around half of the first floor of the house, in addition to ruining merchandise, leading the store to close. — Velvet Wu, Sacbee.com, 15 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
  • Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 31 May 2026
  • Among its many distinctions, SPLC is known for bankrupting the Ku Klux Klan.
    — Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026
Definition of bankrupting
Verb
  • Or tech companies forcing regular people to foot the electricity bills for their environment-destroying data centers!
    — Rebekah Taussig, Time, 7 July 2026
  • Many older interceptor missiles use blast-fragmentation warheads, detonating near the incoming missile and destroying it with high-speed metal fragments.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 6 July 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • 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
  • The blaze remained confined to the wrecking yard property, despite briefly jumping a fence and igniting vegetation to the west.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of wrecking
Verb
  • 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
  • Forty years ago, when the AIDS epidemic was ravaging New York, some Southern Baptists described it as God’s judgment—a punishment for its victims’ life style.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
Definition of ravaging
Verb
  • Djokovic put in a masterful performance against a player who had gone in as many people’s favorite after demolishing the champion of two years earlier, Andy Murray, in the semifinals.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • The redevelopment plan involves demolishing a section of the existing shopping center to accommodate a new 47,000-square-foot Publix grocery store.
    — Catherine Muccigrosso July 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 2026
Definition of demolishing
Verb
  • Rescue efforts were still underway nearly two weeks after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast less than a minute apart on June 24, trapping hundreds beneath rubble.
    — Pat Mueller, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • The co-writer thing was a total disaster, devastating on every level.
    — Daniela Avila, PEOPLE, 3 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
  • 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
  • San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan joined in the fun Friday, serving and smashing with a paddle in a San Jose Earthquakes jersey.
    — Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
Definition of smashing

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Cite this Entry

“Ruining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruining. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of ruining for Spanish Speakers

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