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.

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self-defeating British  

adjective

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

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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

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 android, played by Alexander Skarsgård, is often fed up with humans and their illogical, self-defeating choices.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2025

But why should a germ evolve the apparently self-defeating strategy of killing its host?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond