Synonyms for ruinous
- adjective
Most common
fatal destructive disastrous calamitous derelict dilapidated
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Destructive
destructive, calamitous, disastrous, fatal, harmful, catastrophic, pernicious, baneful, injurious, deleterious, baleful, wasteful, dismal, noxious, devastating, dire, cataclysmic, noisome formal, poisonous, mischievous
2. Dilapidated
dilapidated, derelict, run-down, ramshackle, tattered, shabby, bedraggled, seedy, tatterdemalion
Definitions
- adj. 1
Causing ruin; destructive, calamitous.
- adj. 2
Extremely costly; so expensive as to cause financial ruin.
They were forced to completely replace the roof at ruinous expense.
Example sentences
- fatal Make the best of one's lot with fatal resignation.
- destructive Excessive drinking is destructive of our health.
- disastrous This can have disastrous results for your career.
- derelict The old mosque was derelict and rotting.
- dilapidated Who lives in that dilapidated shack near the lake?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ruinous | falling | |
| fatal | steady | |
| destructive | steady | |
| disastrous | falling | |
| calamitous | steady | |
| derelict | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- dire1
- 5 letters
- fatal2, seedy2
- 6 letters
- dismal2, shabby2
- 7 letters
- harmful2, noxious2, baleful2, noisome, baneful
- 8 letters
- wasteful2, derelict3, tattered2
- 9 letters
- poisonous3, injurious4
- 10 letters
- disastrous3, pernicious3, calamitous4, ramshackle3, bedraggled3
- 11 letters
- destructive3, devastating4, mischievous3, dilapidated5, deleterious5, cataclysmic4
- 12 letters
- catastrophic4
- 14 letters
- tatterdemalion
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fatal2 = 2 syllables).