constructive
helping to improve; promoting further development or advancement (opposed to destructive): constructive criticism.
of, relating to, or of the nature of construction; structural.
deduced by inference or interpretation; inferential: constructive permission.
Law. denoting an act or condition not directly expressed but inferred from other acts or conditions.
Origin of constructive
1Other words for constructive
Other words from constructive
- con·struc·tive·ly, adverb
- con·struc·tive·ness, noun
- non·con·struc·tive, adjective
- non·con·struc·tive·ly, adverb
- non·con·struc·tive·ness, noun
- qua·si-con·struc·tive, adjective
- qua·si-con·struc·tive·ly, adverb
- un·con·struc·tive, adjective
- un·con·struc·tive·ly, adverb
Words Nearby constructive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use constructive in a sentence
The disconnect between the “woke” and angry rhetoric of activist mobs keeping CEOs up at night, and these constructive, nuanced discussions could not have been more striking.
CEOs should stop worrying and learn to love employee activism | Alison Taylor | September 9, 2020 | QuartzWe believe that with constructive dialog and cooperation, a solution is within reach.
The US is considering cutting foreign assistance to Ethiopia over dam dispute with Egypt | Zecharias Zelalem | August 29, 2020 | QuartzIt talks about a lot of the problems that we have now in terms of being able to have a constructive conversation.
Likewise, China’s commerce ministry said the two sides held a “constructive dialogue” and agreed to “create conditions” to implement the trade deal.
The U.S.-China trade deal is moving ahead—in spite of everything | Grady McGregor | August 25, 2020 | FortuneJune, we have held constructive conversations with Facebook to clearly outline the areas where we want to see tangible changes.
As the Facebook boycott ends, brand advertisers are split on what happens next with their marketing budgets | Seb Joseph | August 3, 2020 | Digiday
To do this, we need to be openly constructive, positive and ethical.
Loud, Proud, and Atheist: ‘Openly Secular’ Encourages Nonbelievers to Come Out of the Closet | Vlad Chituc | September 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTconstructive criticism is different from people just being dicks, and I love constructive criticism.
Andrew Garfield on the Evils of Capitalism, the Hacking Scandal, and Criticism of ‘Spider-Man 2’ | Marlow Stern | September 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTReformers understood that constructive societal evolution was the antidote to socialist revolution.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR | John Avlon | September 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn Monday, European Union countries condemned the air strikes and called for a ceasefire and “constructive dialogue.”
“We have since begun a constructive dialogue with the committee on the redactions,” Price said.
White House Must Decide Who Will Be Named in the CIA ‘Torture Report’ | Josh Rogin, Eli Lake | August 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe saw now that her pain had not been as other pain; it was a constructive pain, a part of the task of her life.
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton SinclairWith this clue to their meaning, it becomes possible to understand the main constructive proposals of the Majority Commissioners.
English Poor Law Policy | Sidney WebbThey did not think politics was a great constructive process, they thought it was a kind of dog-fight.
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George WellsThe great constructive process in history gives so little scope for clapping and drumming and saying "'Ear, 'ear!"
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George WellsI would listen to a stormy sea of babblement, and try to extract some constructive intimations.
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George Wells
British Dictionary definitions for constructive
/ (kənˈstrʌktɪv) /
serving to build or improve; positive: constructive criticism
law deduced by inference or construction; not expressed but inferred
law having a deemed legal effect: constructive notice
another word for structural
Derived forms of constructive
- constructively, adverb
- constructiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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