Destructive

Destructive is an adjective used to describe something that causes destruction or is likely to cause damage, ruin, or loss. The term derives from Latin destruere, meaning to pull down or annihilate. In everyday use, destructive can modify forces, processes, or actions that significantly harm people, property, or environments.

In science, destructive interference refers to the phenomenon where two waves combine to reduce or cancel each other’s amplitude when they are out of phase. This concept applies to sound, light, and water waves and is opposed to constructive interference, which amplifies amplitude.

In engineering and testing, destructive describes methods that damage or destroy the test object to determine its limits, such as destructive testing. In information media, destructive editing or destructive modification permanently alters the original data, in contrast to non-destructive methods that preserve it.

Destructive can also describe processes that erode structures or systems, such as destructive weather, corrosion, or decay, as well as behaviors or events with harmful or ruinous effects. The term is often used descriptively rather than prescriptively, and its meaning depends on context and scale.