rurn

Verb

ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins, present participle ruining, simple past and past participle ruined or (dialectal, nonstandard) ruint)

1. (transitive) 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

2. 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

   Antonyms:

   build, construct, found, produce, unruin

3. 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
4. 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.

   Synonyms:

   mar, mess up, undo, wreck, ball up, blight, bumble, botch, bugger up, bungle

5. 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.
6. To make (someone) have a ruined orgasm.

See all 16 meanings of ruin