English

Alternative forms

• second guess

Verb

second-guess ‎(third-person singular simple present second-guesses, present participle second-guessing, simple past and past participle second-guessed)

1. (idiomatic, US) 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.

Related terms

• second guesser

Translations

References

• http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/second-guess
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-secondguess.html
• http://media.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/second-guesses
• http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=second-guess