Synonyms of ruin
98 similar words · 5 opposite words
Another word for ruin is beggar. Other synonyms of ruin are eliminate, destitute, harry, wreck and destroy. The opposite of ruin is produce.
Synonyms and similar words for ruin
nounThe act of ruining something.
- wreckageSomething wrecked, especially the remains or debris of something which has been severely damaged or destroyed.
verbTo cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
- beggarTo make a beggar of someone; impoverish.
- destituteTo impoverish; to strip of wealth, resources, etc.
- pauperizeTo make someone a pauper; to impoverish.
- depauperizeTo impoverish, to make poor (to make depauperate).
- immiserateTo impoverish (someone); to make someone sink into misery.
- impoverishTo make poor.
- depauperate obsoleteTo impoverish.
- embeggar obsolete, rareSynonym of beggar (“to impoverish”).
- empoverish obsolete
- impoor obsoleteTo impoverish.
- poor rareSynonym of impoverish, to make poor.
- poverish obsoleteTo impoverish.
verbTo destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
- destroyTo severely disrupt the well-being of (a person); ruin.
- fordoTo do away with, undo; to ruin.
- ruinate
- annihilate
- aerosolize
- atomize
- bewreckTo wreck completely; ruin; destroy.
- blot out
- blotto
- dashTo ruin; to destroy.
- decompose
- demolish
- desolateTo devastate or lay waste somewhere.
- devastateTo ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees...
- diffuse
- disintegrate
- disperseTo break up and disappear; to dissipate.
- dissolve
- eliminateTo completely remove, get rid of, put an end to.
- eradicateTo destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
- erase
- exterminate
- extinguishTo put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
- extirpateTo destroy completely; to annihilate.
- fuck vulgarTo break, to destroy.
- harryTo strip, lay waste, ravage.
- jazzTo destroy; to ruin.
- lay wasteTo completely destroy, especially of a geographical area or region.
- level
- liquidateTo kill (someone), usually violently, and especially for some ideological or political aim; to assassinate, to murder...
- nukeTo destroy or erase completely.
- obliterateTo destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
- overturn
- pull down
- pulverizeAmerican and Oxford British spelling of pulverise.
- razeTo completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from...
- ravageTo devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
- remove
- stamp out
- total
- subvertTo overturn from the foundation; to overthrow; to ruin utterly.
- unbreed figuratively
- unexist
- unmakeTo destroy or take apart; to cause (a made article) to lose its nature.
- uprootTo destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
- waste
- wipe out
- wipe off
- wreckTo ruin or dilapidate.
- benothing obsolete, rareTo reduce to nothing; annihilate.
- overthrow rare
- race obsoleteTo level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
- ravel obsoleteTo destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.
verbTo upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
- marTo spoil; to ruin; to scathe; to damage.
- mess upTo cause a problem with; to introduce an error or mistake in; to make muddled or confused; spoil; ruin.
- undoTo impoverish or ruin, as in reputation; to cause the downfall of.
- blightTo impede the development or growth of (an aspect of life); to damage, to ruin, to spoil.
- bumble
- botchTo perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
- bugger up vulgar
- bungleTo incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
- contaminateTo make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements.
- corruptTo waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.
- crab slangTo ruin.
- depraveTo make bad or worse; to vitiate; to corrupt.
- disrupt
- disturb
- foilTo blunt; to dull; to spoil.
- fuck up vulgar
- jack up vulgarTo ruin; wreck; mess up; screw up; sometimes as a bowdlerized substitution for fuck up.
- mishandle
- mommick US, dialectalTo mess up; to bungle or ruin by bungling.
- polluteTo make something or somewhere less suitable for some activity, especially by the introduction of some unnatural factor.
- put a crimp in
- screw up vulgarTo make a mess of; to ruin.
- soilTo make invalid, to ruin.
- sour
- spoilTo ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable.
- stain
- upset
- turn upside down
- upset the applecartTo disorganize or spoil something, especially an established arrangement or plan.
- vitiateTo spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something.
- ball up dated, slangTo ruin or botch.
- queer dated, slang
Opposite of ruin
Meaning of ruin
- noun The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
- noun The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
- noun Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
ruin in other languages
Questions about synonyms of ruin
- What is another word for ruin?
- Ruin has 98 synonyms on Word.ws, such as beggar, eliminate, destitute, harry, wreck, destroy, subvert and impoverish.
- What is the opposite of ruin?
- The opposite of ruin is produce. Other antonyms of ruin are found.
- 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 of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of ruin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/ruin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.