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Glite Dictionary
ruinousness

ruinousness

8.8
A state that is likely to cause great damage
  • noun
  • /ˈruːɪnəsnəs/
translation icon : ruinosidad
  • The ruinousness of the war left the country in economic hardship for decades.

Examples

  • He underestimated the ruinousness of taking out so many loans at once.

  • Environmentalists warned about the ruinousness of unchecked industrial expansion.

  • The ruinousness of the storm left the town in despair.

  • Isn't the ruinousness of neglect clear now?

  • Environmentalists warned about the ruinousness of unchecked industrial expansion.

  • He underestimated the ruinousness of taking out so many loans at once.

  • The ruinousness of the war left the country in economic hardship for decades.

Synonyms

destructiveness
vsruinousness
4 6.8

A tendency to cause damage to people or things

is about very large or great damage rather than any damage
dangerousness
vsruinousness
2 6.1

The chance that something will harm people or property

means likelihood of causing very great destruction rather than mere risk
harmfulness
vsruinousness
1 4.8

How much something can hurt people, animals, or things

refers to damage likely to be great and destructive rather than minor
perniciousness
vsruinousness
  • Formal
9.9

Great harm that can cause death or serious damage

focuses on very large destructive effect rather than mainly deadly harm

How Destructive

devastation
90 4.8
ruinousness
8.8
harmfulness
1 4.8
harmlessness
1 3.3

Surface Forms

ruinousness singular
ruinousnesses plural

Morphology

ruinousness = ruinous (transparent) = ruin + ous + ness

Formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ness' to the adjective 'ruinous', a straightforward derivation.

Etymology

The word ruinousness comes from the common word ruin, which long ago meant 'fall' or 'collapse', and the endings -ous ('full of') and -ness ('quality') turn it into the 'quality' of causing ruin. So, ruinousness is the state of being likely to cause great damage or destruction.