be one's own worst enemy
/biː wʌnz‿ˌəʊn wɜːst‿ˈɛnɪmi/
Detailed reference entry for the English word "be-one-s-own-worst-enemy", 24-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "be-one-s-own-worst-enemy" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "be-one-s-own-worst-enemy" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“be one's own worst enemy” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 24
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To act contrary to one's own interests; to cause problems for oneself; to self-sabotage.
Compare similar words
See how be one's own worst enemy compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | be one's own worst enemy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /biː wʌnz‿ˌəʊn wɜːst‿ˈɛnɪmi/ |
| Letters | 24 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “be one's own worst enemy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for be one's own worst enemy is 24 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /biː wʌnz‿ˌəʊn wɜːst‿ˈɛnɪmi/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To act contrary to one's own interests; to cause problems for oneself; to self-sabotage.".
No misspelling variants are generated for be one's own worst enemy in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is be one's own worst enemy, spelled B-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -O-W-N- -W-O-R-S-T- -E-N-E-M-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To act contrary to one's own interests; to cause problems for oneself; to self-sabotage.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “be one's own worst enemy, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/be-one-s-own-worst-enemy
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "be one's own worst enemy"?
What does "be one's own worst enemy" mean?
How do you pronounce "be one's own worst enemy"?
What language does "be one's own worst enemy" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “be one's own worst enemy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -O-W-N- -W-O-R-S-T- -E-N-E-M-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /biː wʌnz‿ˌəʊn wɜːst‿ˈɛnɪmi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index: