Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To criticize or correct after an outcome is known.
- intransitive verb To outguess.
- intransitive verb To predict or anticipate.
- intransitive verb To criticize a decision after its outcome is known.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb idiomatic To attempt to
predict oranticipate . - verb idiomatic, US to
vet orevaluate ; tocriticize orcorrect , often byhindsight , bypresuming to have a betteridea ,method , etc.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb attempt to anticipate or predict
- verb evaluate or criticize with hindsight
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It was only Douglas and his opinion of Jason that gave her pause and made her second-guess her decision to bring him.
I.O.U. Elle 2011
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The rewrite came and it was worse than the first version, a tactic I found common to almost all male writers whose genius I had the audacity to second-guess.
Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011
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He has been rewriting Plus's listing rules and trying to second-guess the European market infrastructure regulation, MiFID II and U.K. regulatory changes.
Careers Take Flight in Turbulent Skies Michelle Price 2011
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I often second-guess my phrasing, choice of content, I ask myself if I'm lacking necessary description in one area, am I going on for too long in another, am I even making sense, do I even have a point?
The Five Stages of Editing Lavinia Ludlow 2011
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He worried that teammates would second-guess his desire to play but ultimately told doctors of lingering neck pain.
'Tough' NFL culture counter to league's fight vs. concussions 2009
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Alone, you can second-guess yourself to distraction.
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Worse, we may acknowledge them but then second-guess and quickly bury them.
The 7 Glenn Beck 2011
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But I think an even better idea is to get rid of the save altogether, that way we can all be shocked and appalled, but nobody has to second-guess a decision or make Casey feel like crap that he's still there and that perhaps the best vocalist in the competition has gone home.
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Knicks team president Donnie Walsh said last summer he will "second-guess myself forever " on the deal.
Not to Second Guess, But... Kevin Clark 2011
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Worse, we may acknowledge them but then second-guess and quickly bury them.
The 7 Glenn Beck 2011
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