destructive
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destructive
- /dɪˈstɹʌktɪv/ Canada, US, UK
- /dɪˈstɹʊktɪv/ Ireland, Northern England
- /dɪˈstɹɐktɪv/ Australia
- /dəˈstɹɐktəv/ New Zealand
Where it comes from
From Middle English destructyve, from Middle French destructif, from Latin dēstrūctīvus, from past participle of dēstruere (“to tear down, destroy”) + -īvus.
adjective more destructive · most destructive
- Causing destruction; damaging. The pastures are filled with gay political drop-outs, persons of reasonable intent who found the scene personally destructive.
- Causing breakdown or disassembly. Catabolism is a destructive metabolism that involves the breakdown of molecules and release of energy.
- Lossy; causing irreversible change. Blurring an image is a destructive operation, but rotating an image is not.
Similar: calamitous, catastrophic, devastating, disastrous, eradicative, harmful, pernicious, ruinous, wrackful, wreckful · Opposite: constructive, nondestructive, non-destructive, productive
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ruinous, withering, ravaging, devastating, damaging, annihilative, soul-destroying, wasteful, cataclysmal, cataclysmic, crushing, obscurant, blasting, erosive, corrosive, negative
adjective
Similar: calamitous, catastrophic, devastating, disastrous, eradicative, harmful, pernicious, ruinous, wrackful, wreckful · Opposite: constructive, nondestructive, non-destructive, productive
Translations
Every language
adj causing destruction; damaging
| Español | destructivo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 파괴적 pagoejeok |
| 日本語 | 破壊的な hakaiteki na |
| 中文 | 破壞性的 /破坏性的 pòhuàixìng de |
| हिन्दी | घातक ghātak, हानिकारक hānikārak, नाशक nāśak |
| Português | destrutivo |
| Français | destructif |
| Deutsch | destruktiv, schädlich, zerstörend |
| Italiano | distruttivo |
| Ελληνικά | καταστροφικός katastrofikós, καταστρεπτικός katastreptikós, αφανιστικός afanistikós |
| Română | distructiv, distrugător |
| Русский | разруши́тельный razrušítelʹnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | phá hoại, huỷ diệt |
| עברית | הרסני harsany |
adj causing breakdown
| 中文 | 解體性的 /解体性的 jiětǐxìng de |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | नाशक nāśak |
| Ελληνικά | καταλυτικός katalytikós |
adj lossy
| 中文 | 損失性的 /损失性的 sǔnshīxìng de |
|---|
Talk about this word "destructive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/destructive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. destructive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/destructive "destructive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/destructive.Cite this
@misc{destructive_2026,
title = {destructive},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/destructive},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
