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self-defeating

[ self-di-fee-ting, self- ]

adjective

  1. serving to frustrate, thwart, etc., one's own intention or interests:

    His behavior was certainly self-defeating.



self-defeating

adjective

  1. (of a plan, action, etc) unable to achieve the intended result
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Example Sentences

It would seem like a self-defeating move for a government contractor to become a tax exile.

Even that most fundamental American activity of pursuing happiness can become a self-defeating drive.

This isn't a policy in any coherent sense of that word; it's an artifact of resentment, a self-defeating relic from another era.

From a clinical point of view, Dr. Foehl opined, this behavior would be labeled as a “self-defeating personality disorder.”

I believe absolutely and positively that violence is self-defeating.

Newcomb had his share in wrenching the boat-hooks from their hold and in the feverish self-defeating activity of the oarsmen.

Not only would such an attempt involve impossible inquiries, but the attempt would be self-defeating.

Born of crass ignorance and self-defeating greed, it cannot bear the light.

Piecemeal operations within each lesser drainage area can be self-defeating or, at the very least, needlessly expensive.

No, it would be self-defeating folly to make Wagner appear less in order to have Strauss appear more.

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