constructive
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French constructif.
Morphologically construct + -ive.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
constructive (comparative more constructive, superlative most constructive)
- Relating to or causing construction.
- Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.
- Serving a useful purpose.
- (law) Imputed by law; created to give legal effect to something for equitable reasons, as with constructive notice or a constructive trust.
- Not direct or expressed, but inferred.
- 1978, Richard Nixon, “The Presidency 1973-1974”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon[1], Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 1077:
- A President's power begins slipping away the moment it is known that he is going to leave: I had seen that in 1952, in 1960, in 1968. On the eve of my resignation I knew that my role was already a symbolic one, and that Gerald Ford's was now the constructive one. My telephone calls and meetings and decisions were now parts of a prescribed ritual aimed at making peace with the past; his calls, his meetings, and his decisions were already the ones that would shape America's future.
Synonyms edit
- (carefully considered and meant to be helpful): productive, helpful
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "relating to or causing construction"): destructive
- (antonym(s) of "carefully considered and meant to be helpful"): destructive
Derived terms edit
- constructive criticism
- constructive dismissal
- constructive eviction
- constructive force
- constructive fraud
- constructive logic
- constructively
- constructive malice
- constructive memory
- constructiveness
- constructive notice
- constructive treason
- constructive trust
- constructivism
- constructivization
- constructivize
- deconstructive
- inconstructive
- nonconstructive
- preconstructive
- superconstructive
- unconstructive
Translations edit
relating to or causing construction
|
carefully considered and meant to be helpful
|
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
constructive