n. 1 downfall, destruction, devastation, havoc, breakdown, breakup, débâcle, collapse, fall, disintegration, ruination, dissolution, wiping out, failure, decay, undoing, end; conquest, defeat, overthrow; bankruptcy, liquidation, failure Alexander was responsible for the ruin of the Persian empire Overwhelming debts spelt Theo's financial ruin. 2 degradation, dishonour, debasement, defilement, corruption, vitiation, seduction, degrading, dishonouring, debasing, defiling, corrupting, vitiating, seducing; deflowering, defloration Who was the libertine who brought about the ruin of Lord Harecombe's daughter? 3 nemesis, curse, end, bane, curse That boy will be my ruin! 4 gin, mother's ruin, blue ruin, Slang rot-gut: After eating, we sat down and polished off a bottle of mother's ruin 5 hag, witch, crone, beldam; dotard, (old) fogy or fogey, fossil, fuddy-duddy, antique, Brit OAP (= 'old-age pensioner'), Chiefly US retiree, Colloq (old) geezer, wreck, Slang dodo It's hard to understand what those two old ruins see in each other 6 ruins. debris, wreckage, fragments, rubble, remains He stood among the ruins of the burnt-out house wondering what to do next She was trying to piece together the ruins of her disastrous marriage.
v. 7 destroy, devastate, demolish, annihilate, dissolve, wipe out, undo, overthrow, lay waste, raze, shatter, wreck, crush, flatten, wreak havoc (up)on, reduce to nothing or naught, pulverize, smash, bring to ruin The bomb ruined the entire centre of the city 8 spoil, disfigure, damage, botch, mess up, make a mess of, mar, uglify The county office building completely ruins the Aylesbury skyline 9 spoil, destroy, wreck, nullify, damage, harm, hurt, impair, poison, Slang louse up, screw up, put the kibosh on, US bollix up, Taboo slang chiefly Brit make a balls-up of I think that your behaviour at the office party may just have ruined your prospects for promotion 10 bankrupt, pauperize, impoverish, reduce to penury or poverty or destitution or indigence Paying off the loan virtually ruined me 11 violate, deflower, ravish, seduce, lead astray, dishonour, defile, corrupt, debase, defile She claimed that it was the local squire who ruined her, despite evidence to the contrary