"destructively" meaning in English

See destructively in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Forms: more destructively [comparative], most destructively [superlative]
Etymology: From destructive + -ly. Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*strew-}}, {{suffix|en|destructive|ly}} destructive + -ly Head templates: {{en-adv}} destructively (comparative more destructively, superlative most destructively)
  1. in a destructive manner: in a way that causes destruction Derived forms: self-destructively, undestructively Translations (in a destructive manner): destructivament (Catalan), destrutivamente (Portuguese), distructiv (Romanian), distrugător (Romanian), destructivamente (Spanish)
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  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "constructively"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*strew-"
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      "name": "root"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "destructive",
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      "expansion": "destructive + -ly",
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From destructive + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more destructively",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most destructively",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "destructively (comparative more destructively, superlative most destructively)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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          "name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "self-destructively"
        },
        {
          "word": "undestructively"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              323,
              336
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC:",
          "text": "In one locality, on our journey, we saw some horses that had been born and reared on top of the mountains, above the range of running water, and consequently they had never drank that fluid in their lives, but had been always accustomed to quenching their thirst by eating dew-laden or shower-wetted leaves. And now it was destructively funny to see them sniff suspiciously at a pail of water, and then put in their noses and try to take a bite out of the fluid, as if it were a solid. Finding it liquid, they would snatch away their heads and fall to trembling, snorting and showing other evidences of fright. When they became convinced at last that the water was friendly and harmless, they thrust in their noses up to their eyes, brought out a mouthful of water, and proceeded to chew it complacently.https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Roughing_It/Chapter_LXXVI",
          "type": "quotation"
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              45,
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          "ref": "1923, Manly Palmer Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Chapter 4:",
          "text": "The strength of man was not given to be used destructively but that he might build a temple worthy to be the dwelling place of the Great Architect of the universe.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
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          ],
          "ref": "2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC:",
          "text": "Though he intends it destructively, Rothbard is right that there are relations between the millennial hope for justice he archly calls KGE—Kingdom of God on Earth—and communism.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "in a destructive manner: in a way that causes destruction"
      ],
      "id": "en-destructively-en-adv-HxumBdW3",
      "links": [
        [
          "destructive",
          "destructive"
        ],
        [
          "destruction",
          "destruction"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "lang_code": "ca",
          "sense": "in a destructive manner",
          "word": "destructivament"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "in a destructive manner",
          "word": "destrutivamente"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "in a destructive manner",
          "word": "distructiv"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "in a destructive manner",
          "word": "distrugător"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "in a destructive manner",
          "word": "destructivamente"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "destructively"
}
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  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "constructively"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "self-destructively"
    },
    {
      "word": "undestructively"
    }
  ],
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "destructive",
        "3": "ly"
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      "expansion": "destructive + -ly",
      "name": "suffix"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From destructive + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more destructively",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most destructively",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "destructively (comparative more destructively, superlative most destructively)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
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        "English terms suffixed with -ly",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
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        "Pages with entries",
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          "text": "In one locality, on our journey, we saw some horses that had been born and reared on top of the mountains, above the range of running water, and consequently they had never drank that fluid in their lives, but had been always accustomed to quenching their thirst by eating dew-laden or shower-wetted leaves. And now it was destructively funny to see them sniff suspiciously at a pail of water, and then put in their noses and try to take a bite out of the fluid, as if it were a solid. Finding it liquid, they would snatch away their heads and fall to trembling, snorting and showing other evidences of fright. When they became convinced at last that the water was friendly and harmless, they thrust in their noses up to their eyes, brought out a mouthful of water, and proceeded to chew it complacently.https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Roughing_It/Chapter_LXXVI",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              58
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1923, Manly Palmer Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Chapter 4:",
          "text": "The strength of man was not given to be used destructively but that he might build a temple worthy to be the dwelling place of the Great Architect of the universe.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
              34
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC:",
          "text": "Though he intends it destructively, Rothbard is right that there are relations between the millennial hope for justice he archly calls KGE—Kingdom of God on Earth—and communism.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "in a destructive manner: in a way that causes destruction"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "destructive",
          "destructive"
        ],
        [
          "destruction",
          "destruction"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "lang_code": "ca",
      "sense": "in a destructive manner",
      "word": "destructivament"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "in a destructive manner",
      "word": "destrutivamente"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "in a destructive manner",
      "word": "distructiv"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "in a destructive manner",
      "word": "distrugător"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "in a destructive manner",
      "word": "destructivamente"
    }
  ],
  "word": "destructively"
}

Download raw JSONL data for destructively meaning in English (3.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (d146717 and 59dc20b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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