work against (someone)

phrasal verb

worked against (someone); working against (someone); works against (someone)

: to contribute to a negative result for someone : make something less likely to happen for someone

Her lack of experience worked against her in the election.

Examples of work against (someone) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey: Much as Cleveland’s record could help Garland, Philadelphia’s record (16-27) could work against Maxey, who’s averaging 26.5 points, 5.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds. —

Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 25 Jan. 2025 Hard to envision something that will actually work against City, though. —

Simon Johnson, The Athletic, 24 Jan. 2025 Witherspoon has taken on most of the work against opposing team’s top targets late in this season. —

Adam Grosbard, Orange County Register, 17 Jan. 2025 The elements often work against one another—that’s how a system keeps itself in check—and so their connections always need tuning up. —

Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for work against (someone)

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“Work against (someone).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/work%20against%20%28someone%29. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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