self-defeating

American  

[self-di-fee-ting, self-] / ˈsɛlf dɪˈfi tɪŋ, ˌsɛlf- /

adjective

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

   His behavior was certainly self-defeating.

---

self-defeating British  

adjective

1. (of a plan, action, etc) unable to achieve the intended result

---

Explanation

Anything that's self-defeating acts against its own plan or purpose — it's unsuccessful or useless. If you really want to make friends with someone, it would be self-defeating to say something mean to them. If your actions keep the thing you really hope for from working out, they're self-defeating. It's also self-defeating to be drawn to people who will inevitably treat you badly, or to eat foods you know are going to make your stomach hurt later. Behavior that seems destined to harm you — writing your friend's English paper but not your own, for example — is also self-defeating. Defeating stems from the Vuglar Latin diffacere, "destroy or undo."

Example Sentences

But homing in on the annoying and self-defeating aspects of it misses the real story of how the movement changed American society, and the world, for the better—and how Lindy West did too.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

Toxicity is pervasive; draining and self-defeating, but almost unavoidable.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

It’s an understandable reaction, but it might be self-defeating.

From Barron's • Dec. 12, 2025

Brian Strow, an economist and dean of the business school at Florida’s Palm Beach Atlantic University, told me by email that cutting off a natural supply of the world’s top innovators and thinkers is self-defeating.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

The principle was not so important that the strategy should be used even when it was self-defeating, as Gandhi himself believed.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela