1
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
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2
as in devastating
causing or tending to cause destruction
a ruinous windstorm destroyed the crops
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruinous
While the scourge of blood diamonds has been well-documented (and immortalized by the 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio film), the role of blood gold is more insidious but no less ruinous.
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Charlie Campbell / Dubai, TIME, 29 Nov. 2024
Much as Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas have been ruinous for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Israel appears to be conducting its operations in Lebanon with little concern for the harm to civilian populations or infrastructure.
—Mohanad Hage Ali, Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2024
Hamilton’s ruinous reign in the early 2000s had almost left the club homeless.
—Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024
So bad his preference for ruinous eternal companions was a primary source of dramatic tension in Interview With the Vampire’s bold second season, featuring Assad Zaman’s Armand, a bad boyfriend for the ages.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 2 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for ruinous 
Charlie Campbell / Dubai, TIME, 29 Nov. 2024
Much as Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas have been ruinous for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Israel appears to be conducting its operations in Lebanon with little concern for the harm to civilian populations or infrastructure.
—Mohanad Hage Ali, Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2024
Hamilton’s ruinous reign in the early 2000s had almost left the club homeless.
—Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024
So bad his preference for ruinous eternal companions was a primary source of dramatic tension in Interview With the Vampire’s bold second season, featuring Assad Zaman’s Armand, a bad boyfriend for the ages.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 2 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for ruinous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruinous
Adjective
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Bridges blocked out the noise, tuning out the relentless social media scrutiny after a disastrous start to the season.Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 20 Dec. 2024
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The Chargers ended an otherwise disastrous first half against the Denver Broncos with a rare fair catch free kick from Cameron Dicker that cut the Chargers deficit to 21-13 entering the locker room.Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This social isolation and loss of support – even from close friends and family members – is a devastating and often unrecognized side effect of the disease.Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 18 Dec. 2024
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The Dalan vaccine defends against a devastating bacterial disease aptly named American Foulbrood, and Kleiser sees it as a first step toward keeping the roughly 3 million honeybee colonies in the U.S. healthy.Amy Feldman, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The report was released a day after a fatal school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, which left one student and one teacher dead, and six others injured, along with the suspect.Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
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Turner, 40, was sentenced in Kenton County Circuit Court on Monday to 12½ years in prison for her role in the August 2023 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Seth Burns.Quinlan Bentley, The Courier-Journal, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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City sorely lack a reliable, destructive attacking presence when playing this way — something only made clearer when the other team bulldoze through them with, as happened on Saturday, a former City player.Thom Harris, The Athletic, 22 Dec. 2024
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Hassan is charged with distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the commission of a federal crime.Louis Casiano, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Again, this is an unfortunate part of football, the injuries that happen.Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
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Nicholas Hoult's Thomas Hutter, the unfortunate real estate agent trapped in Orlok's castle, finds his client sleeping in his sarcophagus, at which point the cat's out of the bag, and the monster comes fully into the light.Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near ruinous
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruinous. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
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