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.

---

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

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

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

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

And what he sees, Page argues, is our own reflection — humanity, in all its fractured and flailing self-destructive foolishness.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2026

A folded dollar bill holding down the switch, stopping the alarm from blaring and letting everyone in the hospital know some crazy guy with cystic fibrosis and self-destructive tendencies is hanging out on the roof.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott