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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2
as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
technology used for destructive ends
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of destructive
On May 18, 1980, the United States experienced the deadliest and most destructive volcanic eruption in its history.
—
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
Astronauts fill it with trash before departure from the ISS, and then the spacecraft heads for a destructive reentry over the remote Pacific Ocean.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
So that’s another destructive love practice.
—G'ra Asim
september 16, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2025
These fires were destructive and highlighted issues related to emergency alerting.
—Micki Olson, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for destructive
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
Astronauts fill it with trash before departure from the ISS, and then the spacecraft heads for a destructive reentry over the remote Pacific Ocean.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
So that’s another destructive love practice.
—G'ra Asim
september 16, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2025
These fires were destructive and highlighted issues related to emergency alerting.
—Micki Olson, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for destructive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destructive
Adjective
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Last year demonstrated that late September and early October can be an active period for tropical development, with multiple threats that may be high-impact and potentially devastating.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
16 Sep. 2025
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Without the right resources, developers face burnout, community dissatisfaction, or the devastating fate that their games never reach their full potential.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The effect was disastrous, my hair crimped weirdly, with sections shooting out in different directions like the discordant notes of an orchestra tuning up.—
Rachel Kushner,
New Yorker,
14 Sep. 2025
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The mid-quarter update offered a glimmer of hope after Six Flags’ disastrous second quarter earnings report in August.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Prepared Social Feed Posts Automation promises efficiency but can’t accommodate nuance, context or situational changes that a human would change course for (think competitive move, environmental crisis, fatal tragedy, and so on).—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show was suspended indefinitely following the host's comments on the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Therefore, there are some unfortunate parallels between young Gen Z needing to sacrifice wages due to wavering job opportunities and millennials graduating into the Great Recession.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
16 Sep. 2025
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In today's volatile business climate, layoffs have become an unfortunate reality across industries.—
Caroline Castrillon,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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This is a potentially catastrophic mistake.—
Ajay Pundhir,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Arena aims to provide value by helping companies to avoid catastrophic machine failures and reduce the effort necessary to complete safety and maintenance.—
Aman Kidwai,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Destructive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destructive. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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