ruinous
Americanadjective
-
bringing or tending to bring ruin; destructive; disastrous.
a ruinous war.
- Synonyms:
- catastrophic, devastating, calamitous
-
fallen into ruin; dilapidated.
a ruinous house.
-
consisting of ruins.
a ruinous city from antiquity.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ruinous
1350–1400; Middle English ruynouse < Latin ruīnōsus, equivalent to ruīn ( a ) ruin + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Something ruinous is really terrible or devastating, like a ruinous hurricane that floods your house or the ruinous effect of a new law on a country's poorest citizens. The adjective ruinous perfectly describes something so bad that it truly causes ruin, "the destruction or disintegration of something." A house fire can be ruinous, and so can a bad hand at a poker table, if the player has bet her last dollar. Ruinous and ruin comes from the Latin root ruina, "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down."
Vocabulary lists containing ruinous
Hamilton
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "Q" "R" and "S"
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Dubliners
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s how fast it is supposed to be able to grow without stoking ruinous inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026