self-destructive

American  

[self-di-struhk-tiv, self-] / ˈsɛlf dɪˈstrʌk tɪv, ˌsɛlf- /

adjective

1. harmful, injurious, or destructive to oneself.

   His constant arguing with the boss shows he's a self-destructive person.

2. reflecting or exhibiting suicidal desires or drives.

   Careless driving may be a self-destructive tendency.

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Other Word Forms

• self-destructively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of self-destructive

First recorded in 1645–55

Explanation

Behavior that harms you physically, or puts you in physical danger, is self-destructive — like riding behind a city bus on your skateboard or living on nothing but potato chips and Coke. If you act in a way that could hurt you, your actions are self-destructive. Not getting enough sleep night after night can be self-destructive. Other self-destructive actions are dangerous in a different way. It's self-destructive for someone to spend their paycheck gambling at a casino, or for an office worker to steal money from the company they work for. Destructive is rooted in the Latin destruere, "demolish," or literally "un-build."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-destructive

Indeed, it can serve as a trap for our own self-destructive behavior.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026

Before the Paris Games, Peaty shared his struggles with injury and his mental health, describing the period as a "self-destructive spiral".

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026

But as Coriolanus’ self-destructive impulses come to the fore, Menenius’ grave counsel lacks feeling and force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

“Some of our detractors have been left in a kind of deranged and self-destructive befuddlement.”

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2025

What deep readings his modified sensibility might make of human suffering, of the self-destructive folly or sheer bad luck that drive men toward ill health!

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan