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.
© Webster 1913.
De*struc"tive, n. One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.
© Webster 1913. | 
