Definition of "deconstruction" [de•con•struc•tion]

• A philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth; asserts that words can only refer to other words; and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings: "In deconstruction, the critic claims there is no meaning to be found in the actual text, but only in the various, often mutually irreconcilable, 'virtual texts' constructed by readers in their search for meaning” ( Rebecca Goldstein). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "What exactly does the word deconstruction mean to you?"
• "At least we are getting a clear statement of facts and possibilites from one direction knowing full well that the deconstruction is about to begin from the other side."
• "The nebulous airy-fairy definition of the word deconstruction is designed to let people think it is noble and educated and intelligent to deconstruct something."