From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishruinousru‧in‧ous /ˈruːɪnəs/ adjective 1 DESTROYcausing a lot of damage or problems a ruinous civil war2 EXPENSIVEcosting much more than you can afford ruinous rates of interest3 formal a building that is ruinous has been almost completely destroyed SYN ruined an old ruinous chapelruinous state/condition the ruinous state of the city walls —ruinously adverb ruinously expensive
Examples from the Corpus
ruinous• In fact, depending on the type of plan you have, they can become ruinous.• So his strategy made sense at the same time as it seemed wantonly ruinous.• Alcohol is as ruinous as illegal drugs.• Rarely does a year start by offering so many opportunities for governments to make ruinous mistakes.• Santa Anna had created twelve thousand new civil and military positions and had obtained several loans at ruinous rates of interest.• That was before its ruinous so-called restoration.• Most of them are in a ruinous state with their upper storeys missing shattered by earthquake, war, neglect.• ruinous taxes• Our present policies are also ruinous to health.ruinous state/condition• A little further along the road is Dun Trodden, another broch in a more ruinous condition.• They also tell us of a field with the manor house in a ruinous condition.• The interior is still in ruinous condition though the exterior is fairly intact.• Most of them are in a ruinous state with their upper storeys missing shattered by earthquake, war, neglect.From Longman Business Dictionaryruinousru‧in‧ous /ˈruːɪnəs/ adjective1causing great damage to somethinga ruinous civil war2FINANCEcosting a lot more than you can affordthe prospect of ruinous legal costs —ruinously adverbruinously high interest rates 