self-defeating

adjective

self-de·feat·ing ˌself-di-ˈfē-tiŋ

-dē-

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

: 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

: 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

Examples of self-defeating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Researchers at the University of Granada found that people who use self-defeating humor tend to have higher psychological well-being, especially in terms of happiness and, to a lesser extent, sociability. —

Mark Travers, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024 Leveraging private capital will help eliminate the ironic and self-defeating need to borrow from these same adversaries to close our budget shortfalls. —

Charles Beames, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024 Friedan’s charmingly self-aware prose provides a window into how feminist ideas were translated into an agenda—and a peek into the mind of one of America’s most effective, if occasionally self-defeating, reformers. —

Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024 In contrast, self-defeating or aggressive humor can have a negative impact on relationships, especially if used too frequently or harshly. —

Mark Travers, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for self-defeating