Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Serving to improve or advance; helpful.
- adjective Of or relating to construction; structural.
- adjective Law Inferred, imputed, or presumed from circumstances.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Capable of constructing, or of being employed in construction; formative; shaping.
- Relating or pertaining to the act or process of construction; of the nature of construction.
- Affirmative; inferring a result from a rule and the subsumption of a case under the rule: applied to arguments.
- Deduced by construction or interpretation; not directly expressed, but inferred; imputed, in contradistinction to actual: applied, in law, to that which amounts in the eye of the law to an act, irrespective of whether it was really and intentionally performed.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having ability to construct or form; employed in construction.
- adjective Derived from, or depending on, construction, inference, or interpretation; not directly expressed, but inferred.
- adjective helpful; promoting improvement; intended to help. Contrasted with
destructive . - adjective (Law) acts having effects analogous to those of some statutory or common law crimes; as,
constructive treason. Constructive crimes are no longer recognized by the courts. - adjective notice imputed by construction of law.
- adjective a trust which may be assumed to exist, though no actual mention of it be made.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Relating to
construction . - adjective Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.
- adjective law
Imputed by law; created to givelegal effect to something forequitable reasons, as withconstructive notice or aconstructive trust .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective emphasizing what is laudable or hopeful or to the good
- adjective constructing or tending to construct or improve or promote development
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word constructive.
Examples
-
I have no problem with you coming onto this board and engaging in constructive discussions with us, but constructive is the key word here.
Thoughts on rescues, rescuers and realities « Bound, Not Gagged 2009
-
The term constructive also refers to the ultimate spiritual attainments - liberation from the recurring problems of uncontrollable rebirth (Skt. samsara) and, beyond that, enlightenment as a Buddha.
-
Jiang said China has maintained close and cooperative relations with all parties involved in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and always adopts what she described as a constructive attitude.
China Downplays Report on Illegal North Korean Missile Shipments 2011
-
In the first significant sign of a thaw, senior diplomats held what they described as constructive talks last month on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Bali, Indonesia.
S. Korea Reports Artillery Exchange With North Near Border Island 2011
-
In the first significant sign of a thaw, senior diplomats held what they described as constructive talks last month on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Bali, Indonesia.
S. Korea Reports Artillery Exchange With North Near Border Island 2011
-
Having a lot on your mind at 3am is not good for you," says Dr Tippett, and to prevent that from sabotaging your entire night's sleep you should make some time in the day for what she calls "constructive worrying"."
-
Jiang said China has maintained close and cooperative relations with all parties involved in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and always adopts what she described as a constructive attitude.
China Downplays Report on Illegal North Korean Missile Shipments 2011
-
People who finger point and blame are rated poorly so the key is to be what I call a "constructive irritant".
Marshall Goldsmith: It's Time to Step Up! Marshall Goldsmith 2012
-
And even those who commend President Bush for what they call a constructive response to globalization predict the latest free trade proposals would leave American workers in need of government help to find new jobs.
-
This idea of no value and ambiguity, you know, certainly successive administrations used what they called constructive ambiguity to keep certain countries to tow the line.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.