ruinous vs vital

ruinous

adj
  • Causing ruin; destructive, calamitous 

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

  • Extremely costly; so expensive as to cause financial ruin. 

vital

adj
  • Invigorating or life-giving. 

  • Very important. 

  • Containing life; living. 

  • Necessary to continued existence. 

  • Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends. 

  • Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. 

  • Relating to the recording of life events. 

  • Relating to, or characteristic of life. 

How often have the words ruinous and vital occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )