self-destructive
Americanadjective
-
harmful, injurious, or destructive to oneself.
His constant arguing with the boss shows he's a self-destructive person.
-
reflecting or exhibiting suicidal desires or drives.
Careless driving may be a self-destructive tendency.
Other Word Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“That Buzz Busby was a frustrating, self-destructive, supremely talented figure remains beyond dispute,” write the authors, Kip Lornell and Tom Mindte.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
This was a monumental test of Hearts' mettle and they passed it, with a world of help from Hibs and their self-destructive red cards.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
“Dragon Mama” offers snapshots of Maria’s daredevil youth in Hawaii, her reckless adolescence in Bremerton, Wash., and the self-destructive spiral that leads her to venture out on her own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
There is nothing new about the bad conscience or self-destructive urge that Baudrillard identified within Western civilization, or about its deeply rooted conflict between incompatible tendencies we might call liberation and domination.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
What secret, self-destructive part of herself had asserted its will over her?
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
