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as in to speculate (about)
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Recent Examples of second-guess
Sauer pointed to a provision in the 1990 law that says judges have no authority to second-guess the government’s decision to end it.
—
Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Aside from his messages of unity and urging people watching at home to never second-guess themselves, Bad Bunny also shared other asides in Spanish throughout the halftime show.
—Pamela Avila, USA Today, 10 Feb. 2026
Other people always will second-guess you.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2026
People are starting to second-guess themselves, and trust is eroding in ways that are hard to pinpoint.
—Harvard Business Review, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for second-guess
Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Aside from his messages of unity and urging people watching at home to never second-guess themselves, Bad Bunny also shared other asides in Spanish throughout the halftime show.
—Pamela Avila, USA Today, 10 Feb. 2026
Other people always will second-guess you.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2026
People are starting to second-guess themselves, and trust is eroding in ways that are hard to pinpoint.
—Harvard Business Review, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for second-guess
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-guess
Verb
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No one knows for sure, and older investors are often better served by accepting that uncertainty rather than trying to outguess it.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
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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
Verb
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What once felt like a clever way to outsmart corporate firewalls or download a free video game had evolved into something far more serious.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
16 Apr. 2026
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The struggle resonated with parents on Reddit, many of whom admitted they have been outsmarted by their own baby gear.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the center of the standoff that has stretched throughout the week is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
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The water will be collected and analyzed in order to determine the uranium concentration.—
Dillon Thomas,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Krüger trained Filou to test out a working theory that seals use their whiskers to outmaneuver fish trying to escape them.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
16 Apr. 2026
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These officers can outrun you, outmaneuver you through dense downtown traffic and scout out any funny business in large crowds.—
Caroline Silva,
AJC.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The company is working to improve safety and reasoning through benchmarks that guide how robots should behave in real-world scenarios.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Apr. 2026
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Those are the people, Hall reasoned, who have the expendable income for the devices, which range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Bob Markle was good at outwitting violators.—
Dave Duffey,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
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The Rams, seeded 11th, caused an average of 22 turnovers per game with its full-court trapping defense and outwitted everyone in their run from First Four to Final Four.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Detectives believe Rodriguez took the man's body, drove nearly 100 miles away to Highland and dumped the man's body in the road.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
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The islands are home to a very conservative branch of Calvinism which believes deeply in the Sabbath.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In an arrest affidavit, investigators said Victor Lee Hawkins, 20, armed with two semiautomatic handguns, walked into the lobby of the school that afternoon, told everyone to hit the ground and tried to shoot one student but was thwarted by a malfunctioning weapon.—
Dennis Romero,
NBC news,
15 Apr. 2026
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The Australian actor, 31, stars in the new horror movie as Arthur, who re-creates and uploads videos of the kills shown in the titular 1978 film (once widely believed to be an actual snuff film), opposite Barbie Ferreira, who plays a content moderator trying to thwart him.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Second-guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-guess. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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