constructive

English

Etymology

From Middle French constructif.

Morphologically construct +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈstɹʌktɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

constructive (comparative more constructive, superlative most constructive)

1. Relating to or causing construction.

   Antonym: destructive

2. Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.

   Synonyms: productive, helpful, useful

3. Serving a useful purpose.
4. (law) Deemed after the fact to exist or to have occurred, despite the formal process not having been followed; often when there was no intention to do so at the time.

   constructive dismissal

   constructive notice

   constructive trust

5. 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.

Derived terms

• coconstructive
• 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
• constructivist
• constructivization
• constructivize
• deconstructive
• inconstructive
• misconstructive
• nonconstructive
• preconstructive
• superconstructive
• unconstructive
• visuoconstructive

 

Translations

relating to or causing construction

• Armenian: կառուցողական (hy) (kaṙucʻoġakan)
• Asturian: constructivu
• Bulgarian: строи́телен (stroítelen), конструкти́вен (bg) (konstruktíven)
• Catalan: constructiu
• Galician: construtivo
• Greek:

  Ancient: συνθετικός (sunthetikós)

• Japanese: 建設的な (ja) (kensetsuteki na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konstruktiv

  Nynorsk: konstruktiv

• Portuguese: construtivo (pt)
• Romanian: de construcție m or n, construcțional m or n
• Russian: строи́тельный (ru) (stroítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: constructivo (es)
• Tagalog: mapamuo

carefully considered and meant to be helpful

• Armenian: կառուցողական (hy) (kaṙucʻoġakan)
• Asturian: constructivu
• Belarusian: канструкты́ўны (kanstruktýŭny)
• Bulgarian: конструкти́вен (bg) (konstruktíven)
• Catalan: constructiu
• Danish: konstruktiv
• Dutch: constructief (nl)
• Finnish: rakentava (fi)
• French: constructif (fr)
• Galician: construtivo
• German: konstruktiv (de)
• Hungarian: konstruktív (hu)
• Italian: costruttivo (it)
• Japanese: 建設的な (ja) (kensetsuteki na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konstruktiv

  Nynorsk: konstruktiv

• Polish: konstruktywny
• Portuguese: construtivo (pt)
• Romanian: constructiv (ro) m or n
• Russian: конструкти́вный (ru) (konstruktívnyj)
• Spanish: constructivo (es)
• Swedish: konstruktiv (sv)
• Tagalog: mapamuo
• Ukrainian: конструкти́вний (konstruktývnyj)
• Welsh: adeiladol (cy)

imputed by law

• French: implicite (fr)
• Japanese: 見做しの (ja) (minashi no), 推定上の (suiteijō no)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃s.tʁyk.tiv/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Adjective

constructive

1. feminine singular of constructif