2. The state of being destroyed, demolished, ruined, slain, or
devastated.
This town came to destruction. Chaucer.
Thou castedst them down into destruction. Ps. lxxiii. 18.
2. A destroying agency; a cause of ruin or of devastation; a destroyer. The destruction that wasteth at noonday. Ps. xci. 6.
Syn. — Demolition; subversion; overthrow; desolation; extirpation; extinction; devastation; downfall; extermination; havoc; ruin.
DESTRUCTIONIST
De*struc"tion*ist, n.
1. One who delights in destroying that which is valuable; one whose principles and influence tend to destroy existing institutions; a destructive.
2. (Theol.)
Defn: One who believes in the final destruction or complete annihilation of the wicked; — called also annihilationist. Shipley.
DESTRUCTIVE
De*struc"tive, a. Etym: [L. destructivus: cf. F. destructif.]
Defn: 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.