second-guess

Definition of second-guessnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of second-guess The Republican administration argued that judges cannot second-guess immigration officials’ decisions about protections that were intended to be temporary. Lindsay Whitehurst, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026 The Supreme Court justices agreed, in an unsigned opinion, that federal courts should not second-guess state courts under a 1996 federal law that was intended to reduce federal court oversight of state criminal trials. CBS News, 22 June 2026 Fans will love the trade at the time and then second-guess it when the other team has the star player. Jim Bowden, New York Times, 16 June 2026 That pressure can make a smart person second-guess their gut. Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for second-guess
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-guess
Verb
  • 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
  • With the right guardrails in place, investors don't have to outguess the market.
    Chris Stevens, Nashville Tennessean, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The teachers scanned their work and used AI to analyze how their handwriting could improve.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026
  • By analyzing more than 25,000 volcanic rocks, a new study finds that Gondwana likely accounted for around 80 percent of total global land area around 500 million years ago.
    Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • After being humiliated and outsmarted when Julia escaped his grasp with Henry’s help in the season one finale, Lovat is presumably more dangerous than ever — and Henry will need to find a way back to save her once again.
    Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026
  • But, at the same time, the car’s computing system that controls electrical deployment is trying to outsmart them.
    Luke Smith, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • But some advocates for women’s health say that reasoning alone that doesn’t sit well with them.
    Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The judge also reasoned that jurors erred in calculating damages, specifically by mistaking a discount for an overcharge.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 8 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The characters' abilities are built around outmaneuvering, not outgunning.
    Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • For more than a decade, India’s leader Narendra Modi has seemed politically unassailable, presiding over a government that has outmaneuvered opponents, dominated public discourse and squeezed the space for dissent in the world’s biggest democracy.
    Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 28 July 2026
Verb
  • By the time Wade was making his decision, league sources said, there was an inkling that the Sixers’ pursuit of Brown had become serious enough that those involved believed there was a legitimate chance a deal could happen.
    Tony Jones, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Perhaps some voters will decide not to vote, believing the election is a fait accompli.
    Cal Thomas, Arkansas Online, 8 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • All season long, Ray and Sugar have been trying to outwit each other.
    Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026
  • To say that Cucurella was pleased, when the Spanish side outwitted the French in the semifinal, would be an understatement.
    Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Verb
  • Your essay concludes with a reflection on the financial difficulties that come with working in print journalism.
    Maggie McGowan, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
  • German officials said police findings, intelligence information and the methods used in the attack led Berlin to conclude Russia was responsible.
    Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Second-guess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-guess. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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