ruined

1. 1
   adjective

   Reduced to a state of decay or collapse; broken down and dilapidated.

   The ruined watchtower has stood empty since the war ended.

   Archaeologists carefully excavated the ruined temple at the edge of the desert.

   Similardilapidated

   Oppositeintact, restored

   Note

   A word for buildings and places that time or war has broken down: the AA Book of British Villages (1980) points to a ruined 13th-century hospice known locally as Pilgrims' Rest. It grades like an ordinary adjective, so one abbey can be more ruined than its neighbor and one site the most ruined in the county.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of ruin.

   The scandal ruined his political career overnight.

   Years of neglect had ruined the once-beautiful garden.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty, as with any regular verb: the plain past (the rain ruined the harvest) and the participle after have or be (had ruined, was ruined). The verb ranges from bankrupting a business to giving away a story's ending. An intransitive use, a wall that ruined slowly, is obsolete; today the verb takes an object. Before a noun, as in a ruined abbey, the word has become the "dilapidated" adjective.

3. 3
   adjective

   Financially destroyed and unable to pay debts; bankrupt.

   The bank's collapse left thousands of ordinary savers ruined.

   Once a wealthy landowner, he died ruined and deep in debt.

   Similarbankrupt, penniless, destitute, broke, insolvent

   Oppositesolvent, wealthy, prosperous

4. 4
   adjectiveslang

   Heavily intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, to the point of being unable to function.

   Half the crowd was already ruined before the headliner came on.

   He turned up to work still ruined from the night before.

   Similarwasted, wrecked, smashed, hammered, trashed

   Oppositesober

   Note

   This is slang for casual talk and is out of place in anything formal. It usually follows a verb such as be, get or turn up, as in got ruined or still ruined from last night, rather than sitting before a noun. Because "he was ruined" can also describe financial collapse, let context do the work: a night out points one way, a failed business the other.

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