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Destructive vs Dreadful - What's the difference?

destructive | dreadful | Related terms |

Destructive is a related term of dreadful.


As adjectives the difference between destructive and dreadful

is that destructive is causing destruction; damaging while dreadful is causing dread; very bad.

As a noun dreadful is

a shocking or sensational crime.

destructive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Causing destruction; damaging.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2013 , date=February 14 , author=Scott Tobias , title=Film: Reviews: A Good Day To Die Hard , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=After rescuing his estranged daughter in the last film, Live Free Or Die Hard, Willis heads to Russia to rescue his estranged son (Jai Courtney), a CIA agent on a mission to protect a whistleblower (Sebastian Koch) from a corrupt government official (Sergei Kolesnikov) with no shortage of destructive resources at his disposal.}}
  • Causing breakdown or disassembly.
    • Catabolism is a destructive metabolism which involves the break down of molecules and release of energy.

    Synonyms

    * calamitous * catastrophic * devastating * disastrous * eradicative * harmful * pernicious * ruinous * wrackful * wreckful

    Antonyms

    * constructive * nondestructive * productive

    Related terms

    * destruct * destruction * destructively * destructiveness * destructivity

    dreadful

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (archaic) * (l) (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Causing dread; very bad.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) Chapter 23
    • "My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."
  • *, chapter=17
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa , passage=After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break and might have taken at least a point from the match.}}

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "dreadful" is often applied: day, night, state, news, time, secret, storm, mistake, accident, story, dream, havoc, truth, loss, act, life, thought, creature, curse, suffering.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shocking or sensational crime.
  • A shocking or sensational report of a crime.

    • Derived terms

    * penny dreadful

    References

    * (EtymOnLine)