different between poisonous vs ruinous

English

Etymology

From Middle English poisounous, poysonouse, equivalent to poison +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??z?n?s/, /?p??zn?s/

Adjective

poisonous (comparative more poisonous, superlative most poisonous)

1. Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous to touch or ingest.

   Synonyms: poisoned, toxic, venomous, (dialectal or archaic) attery

   Antonyms: nonpoisonous, unpoisonous

2. (figuratively) Negative, harmful.

   Synonym: toxic

Usage notes

Some speakers make a distinction between poisonous (releasing toxins when eaten), and venomous (releasing toxins (known as venom in this case) by biting a target), especially in non-colloquial speech.

Derived terms

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English ruynous, from Old French ruinos, ruineus, from Latin ru?n?sus; surface analysis ruin +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??u?.?n?s/

Adjective

ruinous (comparative more ruinous, superlative most ruinous)

1. Causing ruin; destructive, calamitous
2. Extremely costly; so expensive as to cause financial ruin.

   They were forced to completely replace the roof at ruinous expense.

3. Characterized by ruin; ruined; dilapidated; as, an edifice, bridge, or wall in a ruinous state.

Synonyms

• (characterized by ruin): See Thesaurus:ramshackle

Derived terms

• ruinously
• ruinousness

Translations

Further reading

• ruinous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ruinous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ruinous at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• urinous