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was one's own worst enemy

was one's own worst enemy is the simple past of be one's own worst enemy.

Meaning of be one's own worst enemy

Verb

be one's own worst enemy (irregular; see the conjugation of be)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive, irregular) To act contrary to one's own interests; to cause problems for oneself; to self-sabotage.
    • [Mr. Haven] objects to our making the Liberator a free, impartial, independent journal, allowing all sides to be fairly heard (as we invariably do) in its columns. He insists on making it (what it has never been) the official organ of the Anti-Slavery Society; […] The American Anti-Slavery Society...1861 March 29, “Reply of Rev. Mr. Haven”, in W[illia]m Lloyd Garrison, editor, The Liberator, volume XXXI, number 13 (number 1580 overall), Boston, Mass.: J[ames] B[rown] Yerrinton & Son, printers...

Questions about was one's own worst enemy

What is was one's own worst enemy the simple past of?
Was one's own worst enemy is the simple past of be one's own worst enemy.

Words near was one's own worst enemy in the dictionary

  1. was on one's merry way
  2. was on someone's dick
  3. was on someone's nuts
  4. was on the lookout
  5. was on to
  6. was one's own worst enemy
  7. was oneself
  8. was onto
  9. was out for
  10. was part of life's rich pageant
  11. was part of life's rich pattern

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: was one's own worst enemy (page history and authors); be one's own worst enemy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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