How to Use destructive in a Sentence
destructive
adjective- The school is concerned about the destructive behavior of a few students.
- It was one of the most destructive storms in recent memory.
- She argued that the law was destructive of personal liberties.
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The trend is destructive, as a pair of events this week illustrate.
— The Editorial Board, WSJ, 16 Dec. 2022 -
Some of the sideshows, as they are also called, have been deadly and destructive.
— Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024 -
They are charged with possession of a destructive device.
— Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 8 Dec. 2022 -
Officials say sideshows are destructive to the city’s infrastructures, and can destroy street signs and poles.
— Sarah Ravani, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. 2022 -
This is very dangerous because, like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis can be very destructive to a joint.
— Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 16 Dec. 2022 -
His incompetence and destructive decisions made the economic and social pain of the pandemic far worse.
— Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024 -
The whole, nasty cocktail, destructive of soul, mind, and body.
— Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 24 Mar. 2023 -
Over roughly two hours, the horses wove a destructive path across some 6 miles of the city.
— Rachel Treisman, NPR, 24 Apr. 2024 -
The film, written with Jon Spaihts, picks up hours after the destructive events of the first film.
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 -
As a result, the legacy in many ways is very destructive.
— Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2024 -
Their lives were ripped apart in one of the deadliest and most destructive wars of the 21st century.
— Samar Abu Elouf Samar Abu Elouf, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2024 -
The men are dopey and destructive; the women clever and thwarted, with all the good lines and the truly depressing fates.
— Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023 -
The spilling of the tea propelled the dissolution of the bonds between Britain and her colonies, and led to seven years of destructive war.
— The Editors, National Review, 16 Dec. 2023 -
As the eye moved inland, destructive winds shredded signs and rooftops.
— Daniel Kozin, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Aug. 2023 -
Given the history of the destructive powers of wildfires, what took place in The Dalles the past two days could have been worse.
— Thallman, oregonlive, 15 June 2023 -
The size and strength of the hurricane and its wind fields, especially the inner core with the most destructive winds.
— Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2023 -
Even more destructive are surface waves, which move at about the same speed as S-waves or maybe a bit slower.
— WIRED, 10 Feb. 2023 -
This is the destructive game that Trump is playing, and his lawyers seem happy (or at least willing) to go along with it.
— John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2023 -
This is tantamount to a destructive race to the bottom.
— Kotter, Forbes, 5 May 2023 -
So, there was all sorts of efforts to try and open these scrolls, most of which ended up being very, very destructive.
— Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2024 -
This was his focus now: people’s destructive thought patterns and ways to break out of them.
— Katie Bain, Billboard, 13 June 2024 -
Large and destructive waves may accompany the storm surge near the coast of the British Virgin Islands.
— Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 13 Aug. 2024 -
Though nothing was confirmed, those two could have a destructive match at Bad Blood.
— Brian Mazique, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024 -
The most destructive of the Four Horsemen, according to Gottman, is contempt.
— L'oreal Thompson Payton, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2023 -
The fires started Tuesday and fanned out across the island, growing in size and destructive power.
— Karina Zaiets, USA TODAY, 11 Aug. 2023 -
Knowing what fall armyworms look like and how to treat them is your best defense against these destructive pests.
— Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 13 Aug. 2024 -
Here are some of the most destructive and deadly hurricanes ever to touch U.S. soil.
— Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 15 June 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'destructive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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