self-defeating.

Working against the result one is trying to achieve.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• self-defeating strategy
• self-defeating behavior

On the page

Avoiding every conversation became a self-defeating strategy.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Comparative more self-defeating; superlative most self-defeating when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, behavior. Commonness: moderately common.