ruination
noun
Simple meaning
An irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
roouhnayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹuəˈneɪʃən
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.
noun
An irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
The act of ruining or wrecking.
The cause of being ruined, destroyed or lost.
Failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
The state of being ruined, a state of devastation or destruction.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
Used this way, ruination is a reasonably familiar word carrying real weight of difficulty or hurt. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Strongly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
Ruination is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.
Nearby words
- laying waste , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.