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: causing or tending to cause ruin
ruinously
adverb
ruinousness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of ruinous in a Sentence
The house has fallen into a ruinous state.
a ruinous miscalculation of the financial markets left them bankrupt
Recent Examples on the Web
It’s been almost a year since a ruinous civil war flared in Sudan.
—
Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
What happened next that morning was stupid, unnecessary and shameful, and a horrific reminder that getting into tiffs while driving can have tragic, ruinous consequences.
—Robin Abcarian, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2024
The Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein survived ruinous wars against Iran and Kuwait.
—Timothy Frye, Foreign Affairs, 25 Mar. 2024
López Obrador, a lifelong leftist, developed a surprisingly strong bond with Trump, who threatened during his presidency to impose ruinous tariffs on Mexican imports to the United States if Mexico did not crack down on U.S.-bound migrants traversing its territory.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
The palm oil dispute also encapsulates a central tension in the economics of climate change: the argument that lower- and middle-income nations are being compelled to bear the cost of ruinous environmental shifts caused mostly by the world’s wealthiest nations.
—Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Tanzania had also fought a ruinous war with neighboring Uganda that toppled the dictator Idi Amin but deepened its own economic decline.
—Alan Cowell, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
Ignore the presidential campaign and the upcoming criminal trial; Trump’s ruinous financial bind has to be his biggest concern at this moment.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 28 Feb. 2024
According to an analysis by legal writer Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, this ruling means that if someone happens to accidentally damage or destroy an embryo, IVF providers could face a wrongful death suit and millions of dollars in punitive damages, which would be ruinous.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 23 Feb. 2024
Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
What happened next that morning was stupid, unnecessary and shameful, and a horrific reminder that getting into tiffs while driving can have tragic, ruinous consequences.
—Robin Abcarian, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2024
The Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein survived ruinous wars against Iran and Kuwait.
—Timothy Frye, Foreign Affairs, 25 Mar. 2024
López Obrador, a lifelong leftist, developed a surprisingly strong bond with Trump, who threatened during his presidency to impose ruinous tariffs on Mexican imports to the United States if Mexico did not crack down on U.S.-bound migrants traversing its territory.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
The palm oil dispute also encapsulates a central tension in the economics of climate change: the argument that lower- and middle-income nations are being compelled to bear the cost of ruinous environmental shifts caused mostly by the world’s wealthiest nations.
—Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Tanzania had also fought a ruinous war with neighboring Uganda that toppled the dictator Idi Amin but deepened its own economic decline.
—Alan Cowell, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
Ignore the presidential campaign and the upcoming criminal trial; Trump’s ruinous financial bind has to be his biggest concern at this moment.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 28 Feb. 2024
According to an analysis by legal writer Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, this ruling means that if someone happens to accidentally damage or destroy an embryo, IVF providers could face a wrongful death suit and millions of dollars in punitive damages, which would be ruinous.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 23 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ruinous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ruinous
Cite this Entry
“Ruinous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruinous. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ruinous
adjective
ru·in·ous
ˈrü-ə-nəs 
: causing or tending to cause ruin : destructive
ruinously
adverb
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