self-destructive

[self-di-struhk-tiv, self-]

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.

Other Word Forms

• self-destructively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-destructive¹

First recorded in 1645–55

Example Sentences

An MP said the approach was "utterly unhinged and self-destructive," adding: "They're in the bunker shooting everyone who's outside the bunker guarding it. And poor oblivious Keir doesn't even realise he's in the bunker."

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

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They argue the programme validated his "most harmful and self-destructive thoughts", and the lawsuit accuses OpenAI of negligence and wrongful death.

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It’s also clumsy, farcical and potentially self-destructive; I would argue that those qualities complement the menace, rather than undercutting or contradicting it.

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Kuang shows us how self-destructive that is, intriguing as the story reads.

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