What does ruin mean?
Word: Ruin
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Ruin means to damage something so badly that it is no longer any good. As a noun, a ruin is an old building that has mostly fallen down.
Synonyms: wreck, destroy
Antonyms: repair
How do you spell ruin?
Syllables: ru - in
Tricky part: Two beats meet in the middle of this short word. The second one is said so lightly that children often write an e or an a in that place.
Watch out for: ruen, ruan
Memory tip: Picture the ruin of an old fort with one pillar still standing: that pillar is the i in the second beat.
Idioms and Phrases
- go to rack and ruin: to slowly get into a very bad state because nobody looks after it. Example: "The old cottage went to rack and ruin when nobody lived there."
Ruin in a sentence
Example 1: Heavy rain ruined our picnic by the lake.
Example 2: Do not leave your new book out on the wet grass, or you will ruin it.
Example 3: We climbed up to the ruins of Golconda Fort and took photographs.
Fun Fact
The word ruin comes from a Latin verb that means to fall down, which is just what very old walls slowly do.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
ruin
a) praise
b) spoil
c) carry
d) mend
Show answer
b) spoil. To spoil a thing is to make it much worse, which is close to what ruin means.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
rouin
a) o
b) u
c) n
d) i
Show answer
a) o. Take out the o, which creeps in because the first beat sounds like the oo in moon.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
uirn
a) runi
b) riun
c) ruin
d) rnui
Show answer
c) ruin. Both vowels of this word stand together in the middle.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) anceint
b) treasure
c) ruin
d) history
Show answer
a) anceint. Ancient is one of the words where i comes before e straight after a c.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. You have just finished a drawing. What would ruin it?
a) hanging it on a wall
b) keeping it in a folder
c) spilling ink across it
d) showing it to a friend
Show answer
c) spilling ink across it
2. Tourists walk around the ruins of an old palace. What will they find there?
a) new shops and bright lights
b) tall offices and busy lifts
c) freshly painted rooms and doors
d) broken walls and fallen stones
Show answer
d) broken walls and fallen stones
