self-defeating

adjective

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self-de·feat·ing | \ ˌself-di-ˈfē-tiŋ

, -dē- \

Definition of self-defeating

: serving or tending to defeat oneself or itself : counterproductive: such as

a : acting to defeat its own purpose a self-defeating argument You kind of realize that violence can be a self-defeating strategy, because it just gives the other guy an incentive to attack you back in revenge.— Stephen Pinker

b : being or involving an attitude of defeatism Procrastinators tend to be more stressed than other people—even before they start procrastinating. According to a recent study, that's possibly because they have self-defeating thoughts like, "I'm simply too stupid to benefit from more studying, so I'll just hang out on Facebook."— Shana Lebowitz

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Dictionary Entries Near self-defeating

self-dedication

self-defeating

self-defense

Statistics for self-defeating

Cite this Entry

“Self-defeating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-defeating. Accessed 21 Sep. 2021.

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