ruin
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
roouhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹuən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
Destroy completely; damage irreparably
“You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!”
transitive
To cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
To make something less enjoyable or likeable.
To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil.
noun
uncountable
Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
uncountable
Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.
The act of ruining something.
A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
Destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined
uncountable
The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
Used this way, ruin is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ruin
- “You have brought ruin on this entire family.”noun
- “You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!”verb
- “This behavior will ruin your chances of winning the election.”verb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: something that leads to serious trouble or destruction
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.