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Constructive
//kənˈstɹʌktɪv// adj
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Relating to or causing construction.
- 2 Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.
- 3 Serving a useful purpose.
- 4 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"
- 5 Not direct or expressed, but inferred.
"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."
Adjective
- 1 constructing or tending to construct or improve or promote development wordnet
- 2 emphasizing what is laudable or hopeful or to the good wordnet
Etymology
From Latin cōnstrūctīvus. By surface analysis, construct + -ive.
See also for "constructive"
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