hand-wringing
Distressed knuckle twisting
Hand-wringing is the anxious wringing or clasping of one's hands, a gesture associated with worry, distress, or indecision.
The term is used far more often figuratively than literally, describing excessive worry or anguished deliberation that produces no useful action.
There's been a lot of hand-wringing about declining test scores, but no concrete proposals.
The implication is usually dismissive—that the concern is overwrought or performative rather than productive.
Anxious rumination or surface wear
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- consternationAnxious amazement causing paralysis
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
apprehension · unease · nervousness · trepidation · disquiet · angst · perturbation · agitation
Loss of muscle function
- indecisionFailure to decide
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
- vacillationInability to choose
ineffectiveness · futility · helplessness · impotence · stalling · equivocation · waffling · procrastination
Exaggerated dramatic behavior
- dramaticsTheatrical art or behavior
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
- exaggerationOverstating beyond reality
posturing · grandstanding · virtue-signaling · lamentation · moaning · complaining · bemoaning · fuss
Guilt for wrongdoing
- contritionRemorseful state over misdeeds
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- regretSorrow over past actions
- self-reproachBlaming oneself for wrongdoing
penitence · compunction · self-blame · conscience · repentance · mea culpa · self-condemnation · anguish
fretting
Anxious rumination or surface wear
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- consternationAnxious amazement causing paralysis
distress · apprehension · unease · nervousness · trepidation · disquiet · angst · perturbation · agitation · restlessness
paralysis
Loss of muscle function
- indecisionFailure to decide
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
- hesitationDelay from uncertainty
vacillation · ineffectiveness · futility · helplessness · impotence · stalling · equivocation · waffling · procrastination · handwaving
theatrics
Exaggerated dramatic behavior
- dramaticsTheatrical art or behavior
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
exaggeration · posturing · grandstanding · virtue-signaling · lamentation · moaning · complaining · bemoaning · fuss · overreaction
remorse
Guilt for wrongdoing
- contritionRemorseful state over misdeeds
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- regretSorrow over past actions
self-reproach · penitence · compunction · self-blame · conscience · repentance · mea culpa · self-condemnation · anguish · torment
- melodramatichistrionic, theatrical, overwrought, exaggerated, dramatic
- idle actionsfidgeting, waiting, twiddling thumbs, daydreaming, lounging
- overreactionsoverreaction, meltdown, tantrum, hissy fit, freakout
- signs of anxietyanxiety, worry, nervousness, apprehension, trepidation
- frettingworrying, fussing, fretting, stewing, obsessing
- timiditybashfulness, shyness, timidness, timorousness, meekness
hand-wringingequanimity
Unshakable mental steadiness
composure · serenity · tranquility · sangfroid · imperturbability
hand-wringingdecisive action
Firm choice, promptly executed
taking action · problem-solving · rolling up one's sleeves · pragmatism · initiative
hand-wringingstoicism
Uncomplaining acceptance of difficulty
stiff upper lip · restraint · poker face · keeping one's cool · understatement
hand, handle, handy, hands, handful, handled, handling, handed, wring