destruction
des·truc·tion/dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən/noun
destruction is spelled D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N, 3 syllables: des·truc·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is distruction: about 150 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 12 of all searches for the word. Destruction is a noun meaning “The act of destroying”. The plural of destruction is destructions.
How many letters and syllables are in destruction?
| Letters | 11: D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: des·truc·tion |
| In writing | 23 times per million words; the 3,875th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, distruction, about 150 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell destruction?
Destruction is spelled D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for destruction in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is destruction?
Destruction appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,875th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce destruction?
- /dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən/
- [dɪsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃən] ~ [dɪsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃn̩]
- [dɪsˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷʌkʃən] ~ [dɪsˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷʌkʃn̩]
Destruction has 3 syllables, split des·truc·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-destruction.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of destruction
- destructions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does destruction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of destroying.
The destruction of the condemned building will take place at noon.
- 2
The results of a destructive event.
Amid the seemingly endless destruction, a single flower bloomed.
- 3
A group of feral cats.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Destruction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of destroying:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | destruction |
| German | Zerstörung, Vernichtung |
| Portuguese | destruição |
| Spanish | destrucción, escante, excidio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does destruction come from?
Inherited from Middle English destruccioun, from Old French destrucion, from Latin dēstructiō, dēstructiōnem.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).