\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.

\De*struc"tive\, n.
One who destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.