1
as in devastating
causing or tending to cause destruction
the destructive storm blew down trees all over town, and blew the roof off our neighbor's house
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
technology used for destructive ends
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of destructive
Not heated arguments or screaming matches — which still involve a degree of communication — but rather consuming, destructive nothingness.
—
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
These destructive pests can lay waste to an entire patch of squash in short order.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Apr. 2025
But private − unregulated − forest management looks a lot different than managing forests to prevent destructive fires.
—Laura Dee, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2025
Waste and What to Do With It Fashion’s Flaws
Katrina Gulliver
April 11, 2025
Environmental historian Adam Rome considers the destructive history of fashion and style.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for destructive
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
These destructive pests can lay waste to an entire patch of squash in short order.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Apr. 2025
But private − unregulated − forest management looks a lot different than managing forests to prevent destructive fires.
—Laura Dee, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2025
Waste and What to Do With It Fashion’s Flaws
Katrina Gulliver
April 11, 2025
Environmental historian Adam Rome considers the destructive history of fashion and style.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for destructive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destructive
Adjective
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Memories are fresh here of the devastating two quakes in southern Turkey in 2023.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Apr. 2025
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Five years after a devastating pandemic, global health is falling off the public’s radar just as governments around the world are slashing foreign assistance funding.—
Jennifer Lotito,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Or, even more recently, the disastrous April 8 update to protect against the CVE-2025-21204 vulnerability that installed a mysterious folder, and got everyone’s collective conspiracy theory panties in a bunch.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
27 Apr. 2025
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Democrats have been grappling with their own version of that resolution, especially ever since the disastrous defeat of their party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, in November.—
Clarence Page,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Across all suicide attempts not involving a firearm, only 4% result in death; but for firearm suicide, approximately 90% of attempts are fatal.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2025
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That stretch proved to be fatal for the Heat, as the Cavaliers extended their lead to nine with 16.9 seconds to play and put the game away before Miami scored again following this rough late-game span.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In 2022, Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over both trials, decided The Times was not liable for defamation while jurors were deliberating, that the error amounted to unfortunate editorializing but not libel.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
22 Apr. 2025
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Such a difficult call really spotlighted for the first time how tough a situation he has been left in by Eddie Howe’s unfortunate absence (due to pneumonia).—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Destructive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destructive. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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