ruined
Syllables: ru·inedUK/ˈruː.ɪnd//ˈɹuɪnd/
ruined is the simple past and past participle of ruin.
Adjective
ruined (comparative more ruined, superlative most ruined)
- In a state of ruin; dilapidated.
- At the west end of the street is the ruined 13th-century hospice, known locally as Pilgrims' Rest.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 261, about Llawhaden
- Synonyms:
- undone
- Bankrupt.
- incapacitated by drugs or alcohol
Meaning of ruin
Verb
ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins, present participle ruining, simple past and past participle ruined or (dialectal, nonstandard) ruint)
- To cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
- With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!
- Synonyms:
- beggar, destitute, pauperize, depauperate, depauperize, embeggar, empoverish, immiserate, impoor, impoverish
- To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
- He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
- Synonyms:
- destroy, fordo, ruinate, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto
- To destroy (e.g. a city) so as to leave ruins.
- By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeing ruined cities in the ashes.1857, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Mile-Stone
- To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
- My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.
- To make something less enjoyable or likeable.
- I used to love that song, but being assaulted when that song was playing ruined the song for me.
- To make (someone) have a ruined orgasm.
Synonyms of ruined
Forms of ruined
| comparative | more ruined |
|---|---|
| superlative | most ruined |
Words formed from ruined
Questions about ruined
- What does ruined mean?
- Ruined means in a state of ruin; dilapidated.
- What is ruined the simple past and past participle of?
- Ruined is the simple past and past participle of ruin.
- What part of speech is ruined?
- Ruined is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ruined?
- Ruined is pronounced /ˈruː.ɪnd/ (UK).
Words near ruined in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ruined (page history and authors); ruin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ruined.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ruined.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ruined. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
