4 uses
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Definition
catastrophic or extremely harmful; or badly damaged or decayed (like ancient ruins)
- In August he was at Smolensk and thought only of how to advance farther, though as we now see that advance was evidently ruinous to him.Book Ten — 1812 (2% in)
- And it is even more difficult to understand just why they think that this maneuver was calculated to save Russia and destroy the French; for this flank march, had it been preceded, accompanied, or followed by other circumstances, might have proved ruinous to the Russians and salutary for the French.Book Thirteen — 1812 (3% in)
- He not merely did nothing of the kind, but on the contrary he used his power to select the most foolish and ruinous of all the courses open to him.Book Thirteen — 1812 (34% in)
- Despite all Kutuzov's efforts to avoid that ruinous encounter and to preserve his troops, the massacre of the broken mob of French soldiers by worn-out Russians continued at Krasnoe for three days.Book Fifteen — 1812-13 (6% in)
There are no more uses of "ruinous" in War and Peace.
Typical Usage
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