frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

difficult, arduous, Spartan, rigorous, onerous, stern,
demanding, burdensome: It is amazing how that small band of
pioneers withstood the rugged life in the untamed West. 3 hardy,
durable, strong, sturdy, hale, robust, tough, vigorous, hard,
rough-and-ready, stalwart; independent, individualistic,
self-reliant, self-confident, self-sufficient, bold: WANTED:
Five rugged pioneering types to join an expedition to the source
of the Amazon river. 4 rude, uncouth, uncultured, uncivilized,
unrefined, unpolished, crude, ungraceful, churlish: I admit
that Charlie's manners are a bit rugged, but he's one of the
best men we have.
ruin n. 1 downfall, destruction, devastation, havoc, breakdown,
breakup, d‚bƒcle, collapse, fall, disintegration, ruination,
dissolution, wiping out, failure, decay, undoing, end; conquest,
defeat, overthrow; bankruptcy, liquidation, failure: Alexander
was responsible for the ruin of the Persian empire.
Overwhelming debts spelt Theo's financial ruin. 2 degradation,
dishonour, debasement, defilement, corruption, vitiation,
seduction, degrading, dishonouring, debasing, defiling,
corrupting, vitiating, seducing; deflowering, defloration: Who
was the libertine who brought about the ruin of Lord Harecombe's
daughter? 3 nemesis, curse, end, bane, curse: That boy will be
my ruin! 4 gin, mother's ruin, blue ruin, Slang rot-gut: After
eating, we sat down and polished off a bottle of mother's ruin.
5 hag, witch, crone, beldam; dotard, (old) fogy or fogey,
fossil, fuddy-duddy, antique, Brit OAP (= 'old-age pensioner'),
Chiefly US retiree, Colloq (old) geezer, wreck, Slang dodo:
It's hard to understand what those two old ruins see in each
other. 6 ruins. debris, wreckage, fragments, rubble, remains:
He stood among the ruins of the burnt-out house wondering what
to do next. She was trying to piece together the ruins of her
disastrous marriage.
--v. 7 destroy, devastate, demolish, annihilate, dissolve, wipe
out, undo, overthrow, lay waste, raze, shatter, wreck, crush,
flatten, wreak havoc (up)on, reduce to nothing or naught,
pulverize, smash, bring to ruin: The bomb ruined the entire
centre of the city. 8 spoil, disfigure, damage, botch, mess up,
make a mess of, mar, uglify: The county office building
completely ruins the Aylesbury skyline. 9 spoil, destroy,
wreck, nullify, damage, harm, hurt, impair, poison, Slang louse
up, screw up, put the kibosh on, US bollix up, Taboo slang