The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ruinous \Ru"in*ous\, a. [L. ruinosus: cf. F. ruineux. See Ruin.]
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Causing, or tending to cause, ruin; destructive; baneful; pernicious; as, a ruinous project.
After a night of storm so ruinous.
--Milton. Characterized by ruin; ruined; dilapidated; as, an edifice, bridge, or wall in a ruinous state.
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Composed of, or consisting in, ruins.
Behold, Damascus . . . shall be a ruinous heap.
--Isa. xvii. 1.Syn: Dilapidated; decayed; demolished; pernicious; destructive; baneful; wasteful; mischievous. [1913 Webster] -- Ru"in*ous*ly, adv. -- Ru"in*ous*ness, n.
Wiktionary
adv. in a way that will cause ruin
WordNet
adv. in a ruinous manner or to a ruinous degree; "ruinously high wages"
Usage examples of "ruinously".
We decided to explore the more decrepit upper parts first of all, hence climbed aloft in the maze for a distance of some one hundred feet, to where the topmost tier of chambers yawned snowily and ruinously open to the polar sky.
Francis, having first eulogised Tippoo Sultaun, and contended that it was both impolitic and unjust to think of extending our territories in Hindustan, moved thirteen resolutions for the purpose of censuring the origin and preventing the continuance of the war, which he represented as having been begun without provocation, as being ruinously expensive, and as not likely to be productive of any great advantage.
The shield was hugely, horribly, ruinously expensive: the project absorbed more than the net GDP of the United States, and therefore a respectable fraction of the whole world's economic output.
Halfway through the central square, Roxie succumbed to a ruinously expensive bag of Medell cherries, which she would not let Adrian buy.