Usually means: Undermines own goals or success.
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We found 20 dictionaries that define the word self-defeating:

General (20 matching dictionaries)
  1. self-defeating: Merriam-Webster
  2. self-defeating: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
  3. self-defeating: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
  4. self-defeating, self-defeating: Collins English Dictionary
  5. self-defeating: Vocabulary.com
  6. Self-Defeating, Self-defeating, self-defeating: Wordnik
  7. self-defeating: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
  8. self-defeating: Wiktionary
  9. self-defeating: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed.
  10. self-defeating: The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus
  11. self-defeating: Infoplease Dictionary
  12. self-defeating: Dictionary.com
  13. self-defeating: Cambridge Essential American English Dictionary
  14. Self-defeating: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
  15. self-defeating: Rhymezone
  16. self-defeating: FreeDictionary.org
  17. self-defeating: Mnemonic Dictionary
  18. self-defeating: TheFreeDictionary.com

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Definitions from Wiktionary (
)
American English Definition British English Definition
▸ adjective:  (of a plan, action) Containing elements that will cause it to fail; destined not to succeed by its very nature.

Similar:
unsuccessful, futile, unsucceedable, inefficacious, unsucceeding, unconducive, no-win, inconducive, unlikely, unfruitful, more...

Opposite:
productive, beneficial, advantageous, successful, effective

Types:
circular reasoning, petitio principii, more...

Phrases:
self-defeating personality (disorder), self-defeating personality disorder, Self-defeating prophecy, more...



▸ Words similar to self-defeating

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▸ Idioms related to self-defeating

▸ Wikipedia articles (New!)

▸ Popular nouns described by self-defeating

▸ Words that often appear near self-defeating

▸ Rhymes of self-defeating

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Similar:
unsuccessful, futile, unsucceedable, inefficacious, unsucceeding, unconducive, no-win, inconducive, unlikely, unfruitful, more...

Opposite:
productive, beneficial, advantageous, successful, effective

Types:
circular reasoning, petitio principii, more...

Phrases:
self-defeating personality (disorder), self-defeating personality disorder, Self-defeating prophecy, more...



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