DESTRUCTIVE

destructive. Destructive, a. that destroys, wasteful, ruinous

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De‐struc″tive (?), a. [[L. destructivus: cf. F. destructif.]] 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. Time's destructive power. Wordsworth. Destructive distillation. See Distillation. — Destructive sorties (�) (Logic), a process of reasoning which involves the denial of the first of a series of dependent propositions as a consequence of the denial of the last; a species of reductio ad absurdum. Whately. Syn. — Mortal; deadly; poisonous; fatal; ruinous; malignant; baleful; pernicious; mischievous.