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as in to speculate (about)
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of second-guess
The Justice Department contends that judges have no authority to second-guess the president’s emergency findings, and doing so disarms his ability to effectively negotiate with other countries.
—
Ella Lee, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
The Justice Department, in its defense of the tariffs, has highlighted the expansive way Trump has used them, arguing that the trade penalties are part of his power over foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not second-guess the president.
—Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
The Justice Department, in its defense of the tariffs, has highlighted the expansive way Trump has used them, arguing that the trade penalties are part of his power over foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not second-guess the president.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
The system and its capabilities also force adversaries to second-guess radar data, which is potentially crippling to situational awareness in a conflict.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for second-guess
Ella Lee, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
The Justice Department, in its defense of the tariffs, has highlighted the expansive way Trump has used them, arguing that the trade penalties are part of his power over foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not second-guess the president.
—Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
The Justice Department, in its defense of the tariffs, has highlighted the expansive way Trump has used them, arguing that the trade penalties are part of his power over foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not second-guess the president.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
The system and its capabilities also force adversaries to second-guess radar data, which is potentially crippling to situational awareness in a conflict.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for second-guess
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-guess
Verb
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With the right guardrails in place, investors don't have to outguess the market.—
Chris Stevens,
Nashville Tennessean,
19 Oct. 2025
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The Fed and the Markets both appear to be trying to outguess each other.—
George Calhoun,
Forbes,
23 Sep. 2021
Verb
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Williams did not play the cool heel or try to outsmart everyone.—
Rob Wolkenbrod,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
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However, ancient mythology is filled with examples of crafty foxes being outsmarted by their own traps.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Grifters can be analyzed by affect (jolly, cold, angry, greedy, sad) and/or by gender.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Jan. 2026
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Scott and other researchers analyzed more than 5 million health records from 2017 to 2024.—
Dr. Jade Cobern,
ABC News,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Legal experts told the American-Statesman at the time that the case reflected the agency’s increasingly common use of speed and technical arguments to outmaneuver attorney’s efforts to slow deportations.—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez,
Austin American Statesman,
15 Jan. 2026
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Ian Terry won Big Brother season 14 at just 21 years old, becoming the show’s youngest champion after outmaneuvering veteran players with a quiet — but highly calculated — game.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The system reasons underneath, processing infinitely complex 3D scenarios, handling trade clashes, regulations and tradeoffs - learning from user feedback over time to eliminate the need for users to supervise its intelligence.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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The next phase in our work involves validating the framework with extensive testing, measuring how metacognitive monitoring improves performance across diverse tasks, and extending the framework to start reasoning about reasoning, or metareasoning.—
Ricky J. Sethi,
The Conversation,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The characters here, though, are nowhere near so smart as those conniving pagans and can only dream of outwitting the sophisticated folk from the mainland, coming there with their talk of cake, and comfy chairs, and their lies.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
22 Jan. 2026
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Her adrenal gland would begin to work overtime and she’d be lifted up, energized, hunted, and desperate to outwit her attacker and survive.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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However, McCoy and team believe there is no need to get ahead and opt in to taking the season one day at a time.—
Justin Vigil Zuniga,
Daily News,
25 Jan. 2026
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The names listed are of those who reported a burglary and the dates are when the crime is believed to have taken place.—
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,
Arkansas Online,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Top of mind is a package of six appropriations bills that must pass by Friday to thwart a partial government shutdown.—
Adam Beam,
AJC.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Attorneys representing the federal government have characterized the state and local challenges as an attempt to thwart law enforcement and impede their federal duties.—
Alex Derosier,
Twin Cities,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Second-guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-guess. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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