Phrase guide

destructive interference

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

When two waves meet and their crests and troughs cancel each other out, resulting in a smaller wave or no wave at all, occurring when they are out of phase (180 degrees apart), like noise-canceling headphones using opposite sound waves to create silence; the opposite of constructive interference, where waves add up to become bigger.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: audio, electrical-engineering, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.