ruination

1. 1.

   an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction

   “you have brought ruin on this entire family”

   Synonymsruin

   Broaderdevastation
2. 2.

   an event that results in destruction

   Synonymsruin

   Broaderdestruction

   Narrowerdevastationshipwreck
3. 3.

   failure that results in a loss of position or reputation

   Synonymsdownfallruin

   Broaderfailure

   Narrowerfinish
4. 4.

   destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined

   Synonymslaying wasteruinruiningwrecking

   Broaderdestruction

Other forms of ruination

plural

ruinations·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about ruination

What does ruination mean?

ruination means "an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in ruination?

ruination has 5 syllables: ru-i-na-ti-on. The stress falls on "ti".

What is another word for ruination?

Close synonyms include ruin, ruin, downfall, ruin, laying waste. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is ruination a common word?

ruination is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.