Synonyms of the word

ruin

• n. (countable, sometimes in the plural) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a…
• n. (uncountable) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
• n. (uncountable) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
• n. (obsolete) A fall or tumble.
• n. A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
• v. (transitive) to cause the fiscal ruin of.
• v. To destroy or make something no longer usable.
• v. To cause severe financial loss to; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
• v. To upset or mess up the plans or progress of, or to put into disarray; to spoil.

baffle

• v. (obsolete) To publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.
• v. (obsolete) To hoodwink or deceive (someone).
• v. To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex.
• v. (now rare) To foil; to thwart.
• v. (intransitive) To struggle in vain.
• n. A device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid. Specifically, a baffle is…
• n. An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.
• n. (US, dialect, coal mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.

bankrupt

• adj. In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay one's debts.
• adj. Having been legally declared insolvent.
• adj. Destitute of, or wholly lacking (something once possessed, or something one should possess).
• v. (transitive) To force into bankruptcy.
• n. One who becomes unable to pay his or her debts; an insolvent person.
• n. (Britain, law, obsolete) A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud…

bilk

• n. (cribbage) The spoiling of someone's score in the crib.
• n. (obsolete) A deception, a hoax.
• v. (transitive) To spoil the score of (someone) in cribbage.
• v. (transitive) To do someone out of their due; to deceive or defraud, to cheat (someone).

break

• v. (transitive, intransitive) To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that…
• v. (transitive) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.
• v. (transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.
• v. (intransitive) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.
• v. (transitive) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.
• v. (transitive) To ruin financially.
• v. (transitive) To violate, to not adhere to.
• v. (intransitive, of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, temperaturewise.
• v. (intransitive, of a storm or spell of weather) To end.
• v. (transitive, gaming slang) To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in…
• v. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.
• v. (transitive) To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
• v. (transitive) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.
• v. (intransitive, of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.
• v. (intransitive) To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.
• v. (intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.
• v. (transitive) To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately)…
• v. (transitive, ergative) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.
• v. (intransitive, of morning) To arrive.
• v. (intransitive, of a sound) To become audible suddenly.
• v. (transitive) To change a steady state abruptly.
• v. (copulative, informal) To suddenly become.
• v. (intransitive) Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down;…
• v. (transitive) To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a…
• v. (sports and games).
• v. (transitive, military, most often in the passive tense) To demote, to reduce the military rank of.
• v. (transitive) To end (a connection), to disconnect.
• v. (intransitive, of an emulsion) To demulsify.
• v. (intransitive, sports) To counter-attack.
• v. (transitive, obsolete) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
• v. (intransitive) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
• v. (intransitive, obsolete) To fail in business; to become bankrupt.
• v. (transitive) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.
• v. (transitive) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
• v. (intransitive) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.
• v. (intransitive, archaic) To fall out; to terminate friendship.
• v. (of a horse) To tame, to horsebreak.
• n. An instance of breaking something into two pieces.
• n. A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.
• n. A rest or pause, usually from work. Often the mid-morning breaktime in the school day.
• n. A short holiday.
• n. A temporary split with a romantic partner.
• n. An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast,…
• n. A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.
• n. The beginning (of the morning).
• n. An act of escaping.
• n. (computing) The separation between lines or paragraphs of a written text.
• n. (Britain, weather) A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.
• n. (sports and games).
• n. (dated) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in…
• n. (equitation) A sharp bit or snaffle.
• n. (music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.
• n. (music) The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is,…
• n. (music) A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as…

building

• n. (uncountable) The act or process of building.
• n. A closed structure with walls and a roof.
• v. present participle of build.

copulate

• v. To engage in sexual intercourse.
• adj. (obsolete) Joined; associated; coupled.
• adj. (grammar) Joining subject and predicate; copulative.

couple

• n. Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
• n. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
• n. (informal) A small number.
• n. One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic…
• n. (physics) Two forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (and acting along parallel…
• n. (architecture) A couple-close.
• n. (obsolete) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
• adj. (informal, US) Two or (a) small number of.
• v. (transitive) To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).
• v. (transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.
• v. (intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.

cross

• n. A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least…
• n. (heraldry) Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese…
• n. A wooden post with a perpendicular beam attached and used (especially in the Roman Empire) to execute…
• n. (usually with the) The cross on which Christ was crucified.
• n. (Christianity) A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross.
• n. (Christianity) A modified representation of the crucifixion stake, worn as jewellery or displayed as a…
• n. (figurative, from Christ's bearing of the cross) A difficult situation that must be endured.
• n. The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other.
• n. (biology) An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.
• n. (by extension) A hybrid of any kind.
• n. (boxing) A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.
• n. (soccer) A pass in which the ball travels from by one touchline across the pitch.
• n. A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroad (common in UK and Irish place…
• n. A monument that marks such a place. (Also common in UK or Irish place names such as Charing Cross).
• n. (obsolete) A coin stamped with the figure of a cross, or that side of such a piece on which the cross…
• n. (obsolete, Ireland) Church lands.
• n. A line drawn across or through another line.
• n. (surveying) An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.
• n. A pipe-fitting with four branches whose axes usually form a right angle.
• n. (Rubik's Cube) Four edge cubies of one side that are in their right places, forming the shape of a cross.
• adj. Transverse; lying across the main direction.
• adj. (archaic) Opposite, opposed to.
• adj. (now rare) Opposing, adverse; being contrary to what one would hope or wish for.
• adj. Bad-tempered, angry, annoyed.
• adj. Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged.
• prep. (archaic) across.
• prep. cross product of the previous vector and the following vector.
• v. To make or form a cross.
• v. To move relatively.
• v. (social) To oppose.
• v. (biology) To cross-fertilize or crossbreed.
• v. To stamp or mark a cheque in such a way as to prevent it being cashed, thus requiring it to be deposited…

crumble

• v. To fall apart; to disintegrate.
• v. To render into crumbs.
• n. A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar.

decay

• n. The process or result of being gradually decomposed.
• n. A deterioration of condition.
• v. (intransitive) To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
• v. (intransitive, of organic material) To rot, to go bad.
• v. (intransitive, transitive, physics, chemistry, of an unstable atom) To change by undergoing fission, by…
• v. (intransitive, transitive, physics, of a quantum system) To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to…
• v. (intransitive, aviation) Loss of airspeed due to drag.
• v. (transitive) To cause to rot or deteriorate.

deflower

• v. (transitive) To take the virginity of (somebody), especially a woman or girl.

demolition

• n. the action of demolishing or destroying, in particular of buildings or other structures.

desolate

• adj. Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.
• adj. Barren and lifeless.
• adj. Made unfit for habitation or use; laid waste; neglected; destroyed.
• adj. Dismal or dreary.
• adj. Sad, forlorn and hopeless.
• v. To deprive of inhabitants.
• v. To devastate or lay waste somewhere.
• v. To abandon or forsake something. (Can we verify^{([fullurl:Wiktionary:Requests for verification/English…}
• v. To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.

desolation

• n. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
• n. The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin; solitariness; destitution; gloominess.
• n. A place or country wasted and forsaken.

destroy

• v. (transitive) To damage beyond use or repair.
• v. (intransitive) To cause destruction.
• v. (transitive) To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
• v. (transitive) To put down or euthanize.
• v. (transitive) To severely disrupt the well-being of (a person); ruin.
• v. (colloquial, transitive) To defeat soundly.
• v. (computing, transitive) To remove data.

destruction

• n. The act of destroying.
• n. The results of a destructive event.

devastate

• v. To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a…
• v. To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
• v. To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless…

devastation

• n. The act of devastating, or the state of being devastated; a laying waste.
• n. (law) Waste or misapplication of the assets of a deceased person by an executor or administrator; devastavit.

dilapidation

• n. The state of being dilapidated, reduced to decay, partially ruined.
• n. (law) The act of dilapidating, damaging a building or structure through neglect or by intention.
• n. (Britain, law) Ecclesiastical waste: impairing of church property by an incumbent, through neglect or…

downfall

• n. A precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.
• n. The cause of such a fall; a critical blow or error.
• n. An act of falling down.
• v. (intransitive) To fall down; deteriorate; decline.

edifice

• n. A building; a structure; an architectural fabric, especially an imposing one; a large or fine building,…
• n. An abstract structure; a school of thought.

failure

• n. State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success.
• n. An object, person or endeavour in a state of failure or incapable of success.
• n. Termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function, breakdown.

foil

• n. A very thin sheet of metal.
• n. (uncountable) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.
• n. A thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant.
• n. (figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the…
• n. (figuratively) Anything that acts by contrast to emphasise the characteristics of something.
• n. (fencing) A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip.
• n. A thin, transparent plastic material on which marks are made and projected for the purposes of presentation…
• n. (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf.
• n. Shortened form of hydrofoil.
• n. Shortened form of aerofoil/airfoil.
• v. To prevent (something) from being accomplished.
• v. To prevent (someone) from accomplishing something.
• v. To blunt; to dull; to spoil.
• v. (obsolete) To tread underfoot; to trample.
• n. Failure when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.
• n. One of the incorrect answers presented in a multiple-choice test.
• n. (hunting) The track of an animal.
• v. (mathematics) To expand a product of two or more algebraic expressions, typically binomials.
• v. (obsolete) To defile; to soil.

frustrate

• v. (transitive) To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired.
• v. (transitive) To hinder or thwart.
• v. (transitive) To cause stress or panic.
• adj. vain; ineffectual; useless; nugatory.

impoverish

• v. (transitive) Make poor.
• v. (transitive) Weaken in quality; deprive of some strength or richness.
• v. (intransitive) Become poor.

mate

• n. A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
• n. (especially of a non-human animal) A breeding partner.
• n. (colloquial, Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A friend, usually of the same sex.
• n. (colloquial, Britain, Australia, New Zealand) a colloquial "sir"; an informal and friendly term of address…
• n. (nautical) In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's…
• n. (nautical) A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
• n. (nautical) A first mate.
• n. A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
• n. The other member of a matched pair of objects.
• n. A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
• v. (intransitive) To match, fit together without space between.
• v. (intransitive) To copulate.
• v. (intransitive) To pair in order to raise offspring.
• v. (transitive) To arrange in matched pairs.
• v. (transitive) To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
• v. (transitive, of an animal) To copulate with.
• v. (transitive) To marry; to match (a person).
• v. (transitive) To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
• v. (transitive) To fit (objects) together without space between.
• v. (transitive, aeronautics, space) To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can…
• n. (chess) Short for checkmate.
• v. (intransitive) To win a game of chess by putting the opponent in checkmate.
• v. To confuse; to confound.
• n. Alternative spelling of maté, an aromatic tea-like drink prepared from the holly yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis).
• n. The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea.

pair

• n. Two similar or identical things taken together; often followed by of.
• n. Two people in a relationship, partnership (especially sexual) or friendship.
• n. Used with binary nouns (often in the plural to indicate multiple instances, since such nouns are plurale…
• n. A couple of working animals attached to work together, as by a yoke.
• n. (card games) A poker hand that contains two cards of identical rank, which cannot also count as a better…
• n. (cricket) A score of zero runs (a duck) in both innings of a two-innings match.
• n. (baseball, informal) A double play, two outs recorded in one play.
• n. (baseball, informal) A doubleheader, two games played on the same day between the same teams.
• n. (slang) A pair of breasts.
• n. (Australia, politics) The exclusion of one member of a parliamentary party from a vote, if a member of…
• n. Two members of opposite parties or opinion, as in a parliamentary body, who mutually agree not to vote…
• n. (archaic) A number of things resembling one another, or belonging together; a set.
• n. (kinematics) In a mechanism, two elements, or bodies, which are so applied to each other as to mutually…
• v. (transitive) To group into sets of two.
• v. (transitive) To bring two (animals, notably dogs) together for mating.
• v. (politics, slang) To engage (oneself) with another of opposite opinions not to vote on a particular question…
• v. (intransitive) To suit; to fit, as a counterpart.
• v. (computing) to form wireless connection between to devices.
• v. (obsolete) To impair.

queer

• adj. (now slightly dated) Weird, odd or different; whimsical.
• adj. (slightly dated) Slightly unwell (mainly in to feel queer).
• adj. (colloquial) Homosexual.
• adj. (colloquial) Not heterosexual: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, etc.
• adj. (broadly) Pertaining to sexual behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual…
• n. (colloquial) A person who is or appears homosexual, or who has homosexual qualities.
• n. (colloquial) A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.
• n. (colloquial, vulgar, derogatory) General term of abuse, casting aspersions on target's sexuality; compare…
• n. (definite, with "the", informal, archaic) Counterfeit money.
• v. (transitive) To render an endeavor or agreement ineffective or null.
• v. (Britain, dialect, dated) To puzzle.
• v. (slang, dated) To ridicule; to banter; to rally.
• v. (slang, dated) To spoil the effect or success of, as by ridicule; to throw a wet blanket on; to spoil.
• v. (social sciences) To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender,…
• adv. Queerly.

ravage

• v. (transitive) To devastate or destroy something.
• v. (transitive) To pillage or sack something, to lay waste to something.
• v. (intransitive) To wreak destruction.
• n. Grievous damage or havoc.
• n. Depredation or devastation.

ruination

• n. The state of being ruined, a state of devastation or destruction.
• n. The act of ruining or wrecking.
• n. The cause of being ruined, destroyed or lost.
• n. A loss of reputation.

ruining

• v. present participle of ruin.
• n. The act or process by which something is ruined.

scotch

• n. A surface cut or abrasion.
• n. A line drawn on the ground, as one used in playing hopscotch.
• n. A block for a wheel or other round object; a chock, wedge, prop, or other support, to prevent slipping.
• v. (transitive) To cut or score; to wound superficially.
• v. (transitive) To prevent (something) from being successful.
• v. (transitive) To debunk or discredit an idea or rumor.
• v. (transitive) To block a wheel or other round object.
• v. (transitive) To dress (stone) with a pick or pointed instrument.
• v. (transitive, textile manufacturing) To beat yarn in order to break up slugs and align the threads.
• v. (transitive, obsolete) To clothe or cover up.
• adj. Of Scottish origin.
• n. Whisky of Scottish origin.
• n. Scotch tape.
• v. (transitive, Australian rhyming slang) to rape.

scourge

• n. (uncountable) A source of persistent trouble such as pestilence that causes pain and suffering or widespread…
• n. A means to inflict such pain or destruction.
• n. A whip, often of leather.
• v. To strike with a scourge, to flog.

smash

• n. The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.
• n. (Britain, colloquial) A traffic accident.
• n. (colloquial, entertainment) Something very successful.
• n. (tennis) A very hard overhead shot hit sharply downward.
• n. (colloquial, archaic) A bankruptcy.
• v. To break (something brittle) violently.
• v. (intransitive) To be destroyed by being smashed.
• v. To hit extremely hard.
• v. (figuratively) To ruin completely and suddenly.
• v. (transitive, figuratively) To defeat overwhelmingly; to gain a comprehensive success.
• v. (US) To deform through continuous pressure.
• v. (transitive, slang, vulgar, of a man) To have sexual intercourse with.

spoil

• v. (transitive, archaic) To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour.
• v. (transitive, archaic) To strip or deprive (someone) of their possessions; to rob, despoil.
• v. (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
• v. (transitive, obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
• v. (transitive) To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use.
• v. (transitive) To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
• v. (intransitive) Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay.
• v. (transitive) To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it.
• v. (transitive) To reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
• n. (Also in plural: spoils) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
• n. (uncountable) Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or…

thwart

• v. (transitive) To prevent; to halt; to cause to fail; to foil; to frustrate.
• v. (obsolete) To move across or counter to; to cross.
• n. (nautical) A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (breadth) of a marine vessel…
• n. (nautical) A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
• adj. Situated or placed across something else; transverse; oblique.
• adj. (figuratively) Perverse; crossgrained.
• adv. Obliquely; transversely; athwart.

waste

• n. Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
• n. Excrement or urine.
• n. A waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.
• n. A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
• n. A large tract of uncultivated land.
• n. (historical) The part of the land of a manor (of whatever size) not used for cultivation or grazing, nowadays…
• n. A vast expanse of water.
• n. A disused mine or part of one.
• n. The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
• n. Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
• n. Gradual loss or decay.
• n. A decaying of the body by disease; wasting away.
• n. (rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; See "to lay waste".
• n. (law) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the…
• n. (geology) Material derived by mechanical and chemical erosion from the land, carried by streams to the…
• adj. (now rare) Uncultivated, uninhabited.
• adj. Barren; desert.
• adj. Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
• adj. Superfluous; needless.
• adj. Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
• adj. Unfortunate; disappointing.
• v. (transitive) to devastate, destroy.
• v. (transitive) To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
• v. (transitive, slang) To kill; to murder.
• v. (transitive) To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to…
• v. (intransitive) Gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
• v. (intransitive) To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.
• v. (law) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences,…

wipeout

• n. The action of the verb "wipe out".

wrecking

• v. present participle of wreck.
• n. The act by which something is wrecked.
• n. The taking of valuables from a shipwreck close to the shore.