"second-guess" meaning in All languages combined

See second-guess on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

IPA: /ˈsɛk.əndˌɡɛs/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈsɛk.(ə)ndˌɡɛs/ [US], /ˈsɛk.(ə)ntˌɡɛs/ [US], /ˈsɛk.ɪndˌɡɛs/ [Canada], /ˈsɛk.ən(t)ˌɡɛs/ [General-Australian] Audio: En-au-second-guess.ogg [Australia] Forms: second-guesses [present, singular, third-person], second-guessing [participle, present], second-guessed [participle, past], second-guessed [past]
enPR: sĕʹkəndgĕs' Rhymes: -ɛs Etymology: From trying to improve with a second stab. Head templates: {{en-verb}} second-guess (third-person singular simple present second-guesses, present participle second-guessing, simple past and past participle second-guessed)
  1. (idiomatic) to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc. Tags: idiomatic Translations (to vet or evaluate): վերանայել (veranayel) (Armenian), kyseenalaistaa (Finnish), arvostella jälkikäteen (Finnish), jälkiviisastella (Finnish), in Frage stellen (German), überdenken (German), überprüfen (German), podważać [imperfective] (Polish), podważyć [perfective] (Polish), krytykować [imperfective] (Polish), skrytykować [perfective] (Polish), repensar (Portuguese), reconsiderar (Portuguese), критикова́ть (kritikovátʹ) (note: somewhat) (Russian), суди́ть задним числом (sudítʹ zadnim čislom) (Russian), prehodnocovať (Slovak), spochybňovať (Slovak), evaluar (Spanish), criticar (Spanish), reconsiderar (Spanish), cuestionar (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-second-guess-en-verb-P2sTlBYz Disambiguation of 'to vet or evaluate': 99 1
  2. To anticipate or predict someone's actions or thoughts by guesswork.
    Sense id: en-second-guess-en-verb-EG92ptVR Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 64
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: reconsider, rethink, think over, second guess Derived forms: second guesser Related terms: second thoughts

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for second-guess meaning in All languages combined (6.4kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "second guesser"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From trying to improve with a second stab.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "second-guesses",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "second-guess (third-person singular simple present second-guesses, present participle second-guessing, simple past and past participle second-guessed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "second thoughts"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1946, someone, somewhere",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, United States Senate proceedings",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1959, U.S. Court of Appeals proceedings",
          "text": "Public administration would be hamstrung if courts were free to second-guess reasonable administrative decisions."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, someone, somewhere",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Editing Today",
          "text": "If you suspect you've stepped over the line, ask a few other copy editors to second-guess your headline.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "Please don't try to second-guess the procedure that we have already refined and adopted."
        },
        {
          "text": "Once she began listening to her instincts and didn't second-guess herself the entire time, her artwork improved noticeably."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-second-guess-en-verb-P2sTlBYz",
      "links": [
        [
          "vet",
          "vet"
        ],
        [
          "evaluate",
          "evaluate"
        ],
        [
          "criticize",
          "criticize"
        ],
        [
          "correct",
          "correct"
        ],
        [
          "hindsight",
          "hindsight"
        ],
        [
          "presuming",
          "presuming"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ],
        [
          "method",
          "method"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "veranayel",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "վերանայել"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "kyseenalaistaa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "arvostella jälkikäteen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "jälkiviisastella"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "in Frage stellen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "überdenken"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "überprüfen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "podważać"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "podważyć"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "krytykować"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "skrytykować"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "repensar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "reconsiderar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "somewhat",
          "roman": "kritikovátʹ",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "критикова́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sudítʹ zadnim čislom",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "суди́ть задним числом"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "prehodnocovať"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "spochybňovať"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "evaluar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "criticar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "reconsiderar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
          "word": "cuestionar"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 November 6, Dennis Fancett, Rail, page 54",
          "text": "But it is not Network Rail's job to second guess whether the sponsoring authority really does need the scheme, and whether it has looked at other options.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To anticipate or predict someone's actions or thoughts by guesswork."
      ],
      "id": "en-second-guess-en-verb-EG92ptVR",
      "links": [
        [
          "anticipate",
          "anticipate"
        ],
        [
          "predict",
          "predict"
        ],
        [
          "guesswork",
          "guesswork"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.əndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.(ə)ndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.(ə)ntˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.ɪndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.ən(t)ˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛs"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-second-guess.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7f/En-au-second-guess.ogg/En-au-second-guess.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/En-au-second-guess.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "sĕʹkəndgĕs'"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "reconsider"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "rethink"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "think over"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "second guess"
    }
  ],
  "word": "second-guess"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛs",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛs/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "second guesser"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From trying to improve with a second stab.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "second-guesses",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "second-guessed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "second-guess (third-person singular simple present second-guesses, present participle second-guessing, simple past and past participle second-guessed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "second thoughts"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1946, someone, somewhere",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, United States Senate proceedings",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1959, U.S. Court of Appeals proceedings",
          "text": "Public administration would be hamstrung if courts were free to second-guess reasonable administrative decisions."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, someone, somewhere",
          "text": "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."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Editing Today",
          "text": "If you suspect you've stepped over the line, ask a few other copy editors to second-guess your headline.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "Please don't try to second-guess the procedure that we have already refined and adopted."
        },
        {
          "text": "Once she began listening to her instincts and didn't second-guess herself the entire time, her artwork improved noticeably."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "vet",
          "vet"
        ],
        [
          "evaluate",
          "evaluate"
        ],
        [
          "criticize",
          "criticize"
        ],
        [
          "correct",
          "correct"
        ],
        [
          "hindsight",
          "hindsight"
        ],
        [
          "presuming",
          "presuming"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ],
        [
          "method",
          "method"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) to vet or evaluate; to criticize or correct, often by hindsight, by presuming to have a better idea, method, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 November 6, Dennis Fancett, Rail, page 54",
          "text": "But it is not Network Rail's job to second guess whether the sponsoring authority really does need the scheme, and whether it has looked at other options.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To anticipate or predict someone's actions or thoughts by guesswork."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "anticipate",
          "anticipate"
        ],
        [
          "predict",
          "predict"
        ],
        [
          "guesswork",
          "guesswork"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.əndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.(ə)ndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.(ə)ntˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.ɪndˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛk.ən(t)ˌɡɛs/",
      "tags": [
        "General-Australian"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛs"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-second-guess.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7f/En-au-second-guess.ogg/En-au-second-guess.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/En-au-second-guess.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "sĕʹkəndgĕs'"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "reconsider"
    },
    {
      "word": "rethink"
    },
    {
      "word": "think over"
    },
    {
      "word": "second guess"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "veranayel",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "վերանայել"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "kyseenalaistaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "arvostella jälkikäteen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "jälkiviisastella"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "in Frage stellen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "überdenken"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "überprüfen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "podważać"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "podważyć"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "krytykować"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "skrytykować"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "repensar"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "reconsiderar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "somewhat",
      "roman": "kritikovátʹ",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "критикова́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sudítʹ zadnim čislom",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "суди́ть задним числом"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "prehodnocovať"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "spochybňovať"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "evaluar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "criticar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "reconsiderar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to vet or evaluate",
      "word": "cuestionar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "second-guess"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.