destructive
/dɪˈstɹʌktɪv/ adjective
- adjective Causing destruction; damaging.
- adjective Causing breakdown or disassembly. “Catabolism is a destructive metabolism that involves the breakdown of molecules and release of energy.”
- adjective (computing) Lossy; causing irreversible change. “Blurring an image is a destructive operation, but rotating an image is not.”
Synonyms
calamitous catastrophic devastating disastrous eradicative harmful pernicious ruinous wrackful wreckful
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English destructyve, from Middle French destructif, from Latin dēstrūctīvus, from past participle of dēstruere (“to tear down, destroy”) + -īvus.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective 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.
- noun One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.
Etymology [L. destructivus: cf. F. destructif.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “destructive”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details