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

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Rather than work against those difficult beams, Fuster decided to embrace them and turn them into essential components of the project. —

Marta Sader, Architectural Digest, 2 Nov. 2024 But Allie says Aileen refused, fearing Araujo's law enforcement connections would work against her. —

Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 19 Oct. 2024 The Japanese government had sought to trim energy subsidies which work against its decarbonization efforts as the country continues to rely on fossil fuel imports. —

Anniek Bao, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2024 These negative implications hold true for traditional views on emotions at work as well, which disproportionately work against women. —

Liz Elting, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024 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 14 Nov. 2024.

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