destructive

Etymology

From Middle French destructif, from Latin destructivus, from past participle of destruere (“to tear down, destroy”) + -ivus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɹʌktɪv/, /dɪˈstɹʊktɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

destructive (comparative more destructive, superlative most destructive)

1. Causing destruction; damaging.
   • 1980 August 30, David Rothenberg, “A New York State of Confusion”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 5:

     The pastures are filled with gay political drop-outs, persons of reasonable intent who found the scene personally destructive.

   • 2013 February 14, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: A Good Day To Die Hard”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     After rescuing his estranged daughter in the last film, Live Free Or Die Hard, Willis heads to Russia to rescue his estranged son (Jai Courtney), a CIA agent on a mission to protect a whistleblower (Sebastian Koch) from a corrupt government official (Sergei Kolesnikov) with no shortage of destructive resources at his disposal.

2. Causing breakdown or disassembly.

   Catabolism is a destructive metabolism that involves the breakdown of molecules and release of energy.

3. (computing) Lossy; causing irreversible change.

   Blurring an image is a destructive operation, but rotating an image is not.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛs.tʁyk.tiv/

Adjective

destructive

1. feminine singular of destructif

Adjective

dēstrūctīve

1. vocative masculine singular of dēstrūctīvus