Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Destructive \De*struc"tive\, n.
One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.
Destructive \De*struc"tive\, a. [L. destructivus: cf. F.
destructif.]
Causing destruction; tending to bring about ruin, death, or
devastation; ruinous; fatal; productive of serious evil;
mischievous; pernicious; -- often with of or to; as,
intemperance is destructive of health; evil examples are
destructive to the morals of youth.
Time's destructive power. --Wordsworth.
{Destructive distillation}. See {Distillation}.
{Destructive sorties}(Logic), a process of reasoning which
involves the denial of the first of a series of dependent
propositions as a consequence of the denial of the last; a
species of reductio ad absurdum. --Whately.
Syn: Mortal; deadly; poisonous; fatal; ruinous; malignant;
baleful; pernicious; mischievous.
Source : WordNet®
destructive
adj : causing destruction or much damage; "a policy that is
destructive to the economy"; "destructive criticism"
[ant: {constructive}]