| / English Dictionary |
DESTRUCTIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Causing destruction or much damage
Example:
destructive criticism
Classified under:
Similar:
annihilating; annihilative; devastating; withering (wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction)
blasting; ruinous (causing injury or blight; especially affecting with sudden violence or plague or ruin)
cataclysmal; cataclysmic (severely destructive)
caustic; corrosive; erosive; mordant; vitriolic (of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action)
crushing; devastating (physically or spiritually devastating; often used in combination)
damaging; negative (designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions)
erosive (wearing away by friction)
iconoclastic (destructive of images used in religious worship; said of religions, such as Islam, in which the representation of living things is prohibited)
ravaging (ruinously destructive and wasting)
soul-destroying (destructive to the spirit or soul)
wasteful (laying waste)
Also:
harmful (causing or capable of causing harm)
negative (characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features)
Antonym:
constructive (constructing or tending to construct or improve or promote development)
Derivation:
destroy (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)
destructiveness (the quality of causing destruction)
Context examples:
There is no evidence of stromal destructive invasion.
(Borderline Ovarian Mucinous Adenofibroma, NCI Thesaurus)
Substances that are destructive to protozoans.
(Antiprotozoal Agent, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
There are a number of large pieces traveling the Earth's orbit, and tracking their path can help prevent their potentially destructive impact.
(High tech Russian telescope to start operating in Brazil, Agência Brasil)
Patients often present with midfacial destructive lesions (lethal midline granuloma).
(Nasal Type Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)
Airborne and invisible, microscopic pieces of dust, dirt, smoke, soot and liquid droplets often become destructive when they invade the bloodstream.
(Breathing Dirty Air May Harm Kidneys, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
It is characterized by destructive infiltration of lymph nodes and extranodal sites by a monotonous population of transformed lymphocytes or plasma cells.
(Monomorphic Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
For the first time our eyes rested upon this presentment of the great emperor, which seemed to raise such frantic and destructive hatred in the mind of the unknown.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
An aggressive, progressive, and destructive lesion affecting the nasal cavities, paranasal sinuses, and the palate.
(Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Lethal Midline Granuloma, NCI Thesaurus)
Destructive or removal of any part of the endocrine system by surgical means, including the use of lasers or electrical current.
(Ablative Endocrine Surgery, NCI Thesaurus)
Palm oil production can be made less environmentally destructive by reducing the use of fertilisers and avoid using herbicides.
(Greener palm oil possible without sacrificing profit, SciDev.Net)
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