ruin means the remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle. It carries an Arena rating of 1835, earned across 30 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ruin ranks #51 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #224 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #557 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,517 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
ruin is pronounced /ˈɹuː.ɪn/.
Why “ruin” is a great word
The physical remains of something destroyed or decayed, or the act of causing such destruction or financial collapse. From Middle English ruyne, ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ruīna ("overthrow, ruin"), from ruō ("to fall down, tumble, rush"). Unlike "destroy," which emphasizes the decisive, forceful act of ending function, or "wreck," which implies a sudden, violent shattering, ruin is the process and its melancholic residue. It is the slow, gravitational sigh of a stone wall returning to the field, the gambler's final hand played against borrowed time, the elegant skeleton of an abbey against a twilight sky—the beautiful, inevitable evidence of time’s patient victory.
Etymology
From Middle English ruyne, ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ruīna (“overthrow, ruin”), from ruō (“to fall down, tumble, sink in ruin, rush”).
noun
- The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.e.g.“The Veian and the Gabian towirs shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ruins lay.” — 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.e.g.“The monastery has fallen into ruin.”
- Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.e.g.“Gambling has been the ruin of many.”
- The act of ruining something.
- A fall or tumble.e.g.“His ruin startled th’ other steeds.” — [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Pr
- A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.e.g.“the ruin of a ship or an army”
- Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.
verb
- To cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.e.g.“With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!”
- To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.e.g.“He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.”
- To destroy (e.g. a city) so as to leave ruins.e.g.“By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeing ruined cities in the ashes.” — 1857, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Mile-Stone:
- To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.e.g.“My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.”
- To make something less enjoyable or likeable.e.g.“I used to love that song, but being assaulted when that song was playing ruined the song for me.”
- To make (someone) have a ruined orgasm.
- To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil.
- To fall into a state of decay.e.g.“Though he his house of polisht marble build, / Yet shall it ruine like the Moth's fraile cell” — 1636, George Sandys, Paraphrase upon the Psalmes and upon the Hymnes dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments:
- To seduce or debauch, and thus harm the social standing of.e.g.“The young libertine was notorious for ruining local girls.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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