Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ruin in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Ruin means the remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle. Example: “The monastery has fallen into ruin.”

Examples of ruin by meaning

nounThe remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.

  • Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime
  • Not only is Jerusalem not a ruin, but she is at the height of her glory compared to all of Jewish history!2024, David Golinkin, “Naḥem On Tisha B'Av: Is It Permissible To Change The Wording?”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 4, page 136

nounThe state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.

  • The monastery has fallen into ruin.

nounSomething that leads to serious trouble or destruction.

  • Gambling has been the ruin of many.
  • Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing...

nounA change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.

  • the ruin of a ship or an army
  • the ruin of a constitution or a government
  • the ruin of health or hopes

verbTo cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.

  • With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!

verbTo destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.

  • He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.

verbTo 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.

verbTo 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.

More sentences with ruin

  • It’s a long while since anyone lived there, so it’s a ruin now.From the entry while
  • The bumpers and front tyres were ruined, but the body of the car was in remarkable shape.From the entry body
  • The town was stricken by a devastating earthquake that left many buildings in ruins.From the entry stricken
  • I can't simply stand by and watch you ruin your life.From the entry stand by
  • I spent two hours cooking my favorite recipe, just to burn the rice and ruin the meal.From the entry just
  • Too bad this cheese likes to stick to the pan and ruin the whole meal.From the entry like
  • The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.From the entry fill
  • Try not to make it easy for the tabloids to ruin your rep.From the entry rep
  • I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.From the entry necessity
  • The school was in sore need of textbooks, theirs having been ruined in the flood.From the entry sore
  • Marbles were among the treasures found buried in the ruins of Pompeii.From the entry marbles
  • Unexposed photographic film must be kept in a lightproof container or it will be exposed and ruined.From the entry lightproof
  • She finally quit all that drinking and drugging that was ruining her life.From the entry drugging
  • The professor is well-meaning enough, but he usually ruins things one way or another.From the entry well-meaning
  • Repeatedly scorching a case-hardened tool will ruin the case by decarbonizing it.From the entry decarbonize
  • It is widely agreed that rule by intransigent militarists led the Empire of Japan to ruin.From the entry militarist
  • His bathing trunks were ruined and he didn't have another pair.From the entry bathing trunks
  • After being found guilty of animal abuse, her reputation was in ruins.From the entry in ruins
  • His finances were in ruins after spending all his inheritance on cars and drugs.From the entry in ruins
  • My life is ruined because of you!From the entry because
  • The soldiers took cover behind a ruined building.From the entry cover
  • The story is about a group of ferals which have to explore the ruins of society after the humans die out.From the entry feral
  • An ancient amulet was discovered in the ruins.From the entry amulet
  • Her dependence on cocaine led to her ruin.From the entry dependence
  • The Soviet Union emerged from the ruins of an empire.From the entry emerge
  • It's only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the scenery.From the entry highfalutin
  • The footage we shot at the riot yesterday got ruined.From the entry footage
  • His desire for that enchantress led him to financial ruin.From the entry enchantress

Meaning of ruin

  1. noun The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
  2. noun The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
  3. noun Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.

Full definition of ruin

Questions about ruin in a sentence

How do you use ruin in a sentence?
Ruin is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The monastery has fallen into ruin.”
What is a short sentence with ruin?
“The monastery has fallen into ruin.”
What does ruin mean?
Ruin means the remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ruin (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use ruin in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ruin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.