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destructive

[dih-struhk-tiv]

adjective

tending to destroy; causing destruction or much damage (often followed by of or to): a very destructive windstorm.

tending to overthrow, disprove, or discredit (opposed to constructive): destructive criticism.

Origin:
1480–90; < Middle French < Late Latin dēstructīvus, equivalent to Latin dēstruct(us) (see destruction) + -īvus -ive

Related forms

de·struc·tive·ly, adverb

de·struc·tive·ness, de·struc·tiv·i·ty

[dee-struhk-tiv-i-tee] , noun

in·ter·de·struc·tive, adjective

in·ter·de·struc·tive·ly, adverb

in·ter·de·struc·tive·ness, noun

EXPAND

non·de·struc·tive, adjective

non·de·struc·tive·ly, adverb

non·de·struc·tive·ness, noun

o·ver·de·struc·tive, adjective

o·ver·de·struc·tive·ly, adverb

o·ver·de·struc·tive·ness, noun

sem·i·de·struc·tive, adjective

un·de·struc·tive, adjective

un·de·struc·tive·ly, adverb

un·de·struc·tive·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. ruinous, deleterious. 2. unfavorable, adverse, negative.

Antonyms
1. creative. 2. constructive.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To destructive

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Destructive is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Example Sentences

Dissertation-avoidance comes in two forms: destructive and constructive.

The bomb, however justified in the context of the second world war, was purely destructive.

The field and pasture damage caused by wombat burrowing can be a destructive nuisance to ranchers and farmers.

EXPAND

Dissertation-avoidance comes in two forms: destructive and constructive.

The bomb, however justified in the context of the second world war, was purely destructive.

The field and pasture damage caused by wombat burrowing can be a destructive nuisance to ranchers and farmers.

Global warming has extended the destructive reach of humankind.

The more energy in an earthquake, the more destructive it can be.

For such a destructive organism, the root rot created amazing, beautiful patterns in the wood.

Nuclear weapons are often measured in kilotons, but that doesn't really tell the story of a weapon's destructive power.

For my money, taking up the accordion is destructive.

Concern about destructive fishing practices such as trawling and blast fishing is mounting.

From the sparks to the destructive aftermath, follow the great fires at this comprehensive site.

They all smell of being addictive, and in-extremis, unhealthy and destructive.

Hence, they opened the flood gates for these highly destructive insects.

Compared to a nuclear explosion, a dirty bomb would be a hiccup in terms of destructive force.

At the core of our academic culture is a monolithic model of quality that is demoralizing, divisive, and destructive.

The stampede might be almost as destructive as the fire.

Corals do show some capacity to bounce back from bleaching and other destructive events.

Lightning is beautiful, sometimes frightening and often destructive.

It may lead to the punishment of individuals who have engaged in violently destructive acts.

They are sometimes not helpful, but they shouldn't be terribly destructive either.

The destructive global power of the financial crisis became clear last year.

Destructive cyclones are a regular event here, but many plant and animal species manage to thrive.

Few people receive formal training on how to manage stress, which may explain why many of us turn to destructive ways of coping.

But controversy can also be destructive to learning and to perceptions of a museum's integrity.

If they multiply at the same rate as opinions, the process can be insidious, even destructive.

Though sometimes destructive to individual corals, the fish's efforts are mostly beneficial.

Certainly, you also are aware of the death of our oceans due to pollution and other destructive means created by humans.

These systems can give people time to move to higher ground and get out of the way of the destructive water.

The session was on how to stage an intervention for a friend who was addicted to drugs or some other destructive behavior.

But the experts doubt that this summer's will be as spectacularly destructive as last year's.

Many people still chalk up the destructive behavior of a drug addict to a lack of willpower or weakness of character.

It's destructive and dysfunctional and serves no one.

It also helps them resist the more destructive initiatives of the oil industry.

Humans are heading for extinction by not taking care of their existing genomes from self destructive habits.

In addition, not all dangerous and destructive individuals will be wielding weapons of physical violence.

With fierce, swirling winds, tornadoes are destructive and deadly.

Destructive testing of human fossils doesn't sound too clever to me.

Add in methods for controlling hurricanes, tornadoes, and other destructive natural phenomena.

The results show that the crater had both destructive and beneficial effects on local marine life.

For the earth had been beautiful and happy until the destructive spirit of man moved upon it.

Each year lives and property are lost to the uncontrollable and destructive powers of nature.

Coal is a destructive force and it is killing the land and the people who live around it.

It's as destructive as a shark and will eat anything that gets in its way.

Critics of this view will point to such things as species loss as a measure of our destructive tendencies.

Carpenter ants nest in wood and can be destructive to buildings.

Some animal populations engage in destructive and aggressive behavior when in a limited space or crowded place.

The scale ranks hurricanes from one to five, according to wind speeds and destructive potential.

The real destructive power of tsunamis lies not in excessive height, but in their wavelength.

Changes to water systems may increase the frequency and severity of destructive floods.

Because of their destructive landscaping, they are often killed as pests.

Currently students are studying the problems surrounding octopus fishing and how to make it less destructive to coral reefs.

Another destructive fire occurred here this morning.

Natural disasters disrupt production, much as less destructive episodes of bad weather.

Destructive outbreaks in recent years due to changing climate and human.

But however crude and destructive the decontamination process, it has proved effective: irradiation does indeed destroy anthrax.

Chickens can become destructive if they stick to a single area of your yard or property.

It was a destructive and incredibly foolish decision on multiple levels.

It is a question of how destructive of his life you wish to be.

But the dispute now seems to have entered a more destructive phase.

Any planet too close to such a destructive event would have been torched.

When the beam strikes the target it vaporises the impact site, producing a plasma fireball and a highly destructive shockwave.

They excel at finding the right balance between productive and destructive conflict.

Revered as omens, reviled as destructive pests, these giant black songbirds exhibit an impressive variety of complex behaviors.

That's more than enough destructive potential to vent our appliance-induced fury.

That's is different from destructive behavior and the oddly ravaging effects of more serious illness.

Destructive truculence is why you have governments telling companies exactly what they must disclose.

Much has been said and written lately about the use of the flying machine as a destructive weapon.

And while the destructive power of reactive fragments might be likened to a cluster bomb, there is no danger afterwards.

Students don't post constructive criticism in these forums, they post destructive criticism.

Screens are made and used in instructive and destructive ways.

Under this and other regulations, environmentally destructive mountaintop-mining operations are supposedly not allowed.

Despite his ideas having been so thoroughly exposed as being destructive they continue to rear their ugly head to our detriment.

For years coffee farmers the world over have been battling the destructive coffee berry borer with insecticides.

Very self-destructive, destructive of the planet, and completely idiotic.

The first hacks are destructive and result not so much in bricks as in brick dust.

Indeed, your post illustrates exactly why intered's comments are so destructive.

Even destructive pests can be converted from enemies into allies.

Part of her destructive side was disease and plague, but she was also believed to be able to cure diseases.

No herbicides on driveways, garden edges, curb edges and all the other destructive and totally unnecessary herbicide use.

The president hopes that his budget will channel destructive anger into support for his policies.

Though it would never absolutely eliminate such for the self destructive and small children are endlessly inventive.

And in a greater social sense the situation has become unbelievably destructive.

Nor are aircraft the only vehicles from which destructive electromagnetic pulses can be launched.

The artificial, reenforced soil embankments are designed to curb periodic and destructive floods.

In addition, iron or copper parts could be treated to stop them from catalyzing destructive reactions.

Destructive political ambition and infliction of pain have always been the goals of the ultra-right and ultra-left.

And it is true that there has been too much destructive farming there.

Or they have been grossly misinformed or misled by othersand persist in destructive agricultural practices.

Archaeological evidence suggests that when roused it is even more destructive.

The impact craters are the result of tremendously destructive forces, yet many are beautiful.

Let's not yoke the terribly destructive actions of this mad woman to our personal issues and have her pull us along.

Even aid packages for food and water in their time of miserable drought are sent array by sparse and destructive government.

Coastal development, pollution, and destructive fishing practices also negatively affect coral reefs.

On the other hand wall and columns located underground protects residents against destructive wind and storm.

Destructive cultural trends lurk behind the decline of readerly ambition and student stamina.

Start building electric cars and turn away from those destructive fossil fuels.

That's the hard part, developing awareness before the destructive reaction takes place.

It is the pervasiveness of destructive anger in our culture today that is so worrying.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

destructive (dɪˈstrʌktɪv)

—*adj* (often postpositive and foll by of or to)
1.	causing or tending to cause the destruction (of)
2.	Compare constructive intended to disprove or discredit, esp without positive suggestions or help; negative: destructive criticism

de'structively

—*adv*

de'structiveness

—n

destructivity

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

destructive

late 15c., from O.Fr. destructif (14c.), from L. destructivus, from destruct-, pp. stem of destruere (see destroy).

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"The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble."

-Walter Benjamin

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