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career-limiting move

career-limiting move

7.7
A choice or action that makes it harder for you to get promoted
  • noun
translation icon : decisión que limita la carrera
  • Ignoring the deadlines consistently became a career-limiting move for him in the company.

Examples

  • Saying "ni" (props to Monty Python) to BYOD is a career-limiting move for IT folks.

    Blog text (1)
  • Not attending the important meetings was a clear career-limiting move for her.

  • Choosing to criticize the boss in front of the team turned out to be a career-limiting move.

Synonyms

professional suicide
vscareer-limiting move
  • Literature
1 7.8

An action that ends a person's career or future job chances

is likely to harm or hinder advancement but not necessarily end a career

How Damaging

career-limiting move
7.7
questionable
176 3.9
miscue
4 7.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

career-limiting + move

The phrase is transparently built from 'career' (professional progression) + 'limiting' (restricting) + 'move' (an action), so a learner who knows those words can infer it means an action that restricts or harms one's career advancement. The 'X-limiting' pattern is productive and follows a straightforward compositional logic, making the overall meaning recoverable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Career-limiting move may come from the image of a person climbing a ladder to success; a wrong move can break a step and stop their career from going up. That's why the phrase means 'an action that hurts your chances to move up at work'.