Entry Word: destructive

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 causing or tending to cause destruction <the destructive storm blew down trees all over town, and blew the roof off our neighborʼs house>

Synonyms calamitous, cataclysmal (or cataclysmic), devastating, disastrous, ruinous

Related Words deadly, fatal, lethal, mortal, vital; deleterious, detrimental, harmful, pernicious

Near Antonyms preservative, protective; creative, formative; harmless, innocuous, inoffensive, nondestructive; ameliorative, helpful, useful

Antonyms constructive

2 bringing about ruin or misfortune <technology used for destructive ends> — see fatal 1