Downfall
Downfall noun - Something that is the cause of one's ultimate failure or loss of life.
Usage example: an insatiable love of money would be their downfall
Ruin
Ruin noun - Something that is the cause of one's ultimate failure or loss of life.
Usage example: the politician's eventual ruin would be a sexual indiscretion
Downfall is a synonym for ruin in destruction topic. You can use "Downfall" instead a noun "Ruin", if it concerns topics such as help, event, situation of devastation. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
Both words in one sentence
- His own beloved queen manipulated his downfall and the ruin of his kingdom.
Source: How the Mighty Have Fallen -
This was most likely so as not to ruin the magic for kids watching the episode, but it also stands as a sad reminder of the typecasting that led to the actor's downfall.
Source: Series / I Love Lucy - Bury Your Gays: The first victim of the rats is an alcoholic vagrant whose downfall began when he had an affair with a much younger man, which was enough to ruin him in the climate of the seventies.
Source: Literature / The Rats
Cite this Source
Ruin and Downfall. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/downfall/ruin
Downfall & Ruin. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/downfall/ruin>.
Ruin or Downfall. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/downfall/ruin.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "downfall" and "ruin" have occurred on timeline