second-guess
Verb
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Verb
second-guess
- (idiomatic) to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc.
- 1946, someone, somewhere:
- I suppose anybody who keeps a diary and subsequently goes over it for publication has a tremendous temptation to second-guess and make himself look like an oracle.
- 1957, United States Senate proceedings:
- As a practical matter, a fertilizer company could not afford to second-guess the Federal Trade Commission or a jury in a triple damage case on so obscure a point.
- 1959, U.S. Court of Appeals proceedings:
- Public administration would be hamstrung if courts were free to second-guess reasonable administrative decisions.
- 1995, someone, somewhere:
- MacGregor avoided this trap by refusing to give managers reporting to him the opportunity to second-guess the solution he would be most likely to choose.
- 2003, Editing Today:
- If you suspect you've stepped over the line, ask a few other copy editors to second-guess your headline.
- Please don't try to second-guess the procedure that we have already refined and adopted.
- Once she began listening to her instincts and didn't second-guess herself the entire time, her artwork improved noticeably.
- 1946, someone, somewhere:
- To anticipate or predict someone's actions or thoughts by guesswork.
- German: in Frage stellen, überdenken, überprüfen
- Portuguese: repensar, reconsiderar
- Russian: (somewhat) критикова́ть
- Spanish: evaluar, criticar, reconsiderar, cuestionar
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005