second guesses

Questions earlier choices

Second guesses are doubts or reconsiderations about decisions already made.

To have second guesses is to question choices after the fact: I'm having second guesses about taking this job.

The term implies uncertainty that arrives too late to be useful, often tinged with regret or anxiety about whether the right call was made.

doubt

uncertainty

State of being unsure

misgivingsFeelings of doubt
skepticismDisposition toward doubt
questioningSeeking answers through inquiry

suspicion · reconsideration · qualms · distrust · disbelief · cynicism · wariness · ambivalence · rethink · challenge

hesitation

wavering

Showing unsteady resolve

vacillationInability to choose
indecisionFailure to decide
ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation

equivocation · faltering · waffling · fence-sitting · stalling · oscillation · tentativeness · irresolution · pausing · deliberating

regret

remorse

Guilt for wrongdoing

hindsightRecognition after the fact
ruefulnessSorrowful regret
wistfulnessTender sadness for absence

self-reproach · self-blame · morning-after · what-ifs · do-over

anxiety

worry

Troubled mental state

overthinkingDwelling excessively on thoughts
nervousnessState of anxious unease
uneaseMild persistent worry

apprehension · self-doubt · rumination · trepidation · nagging · restlessness · angst · jitters · edginess · agitation

Opposites

certainty and conviction

second guessescertainty

Total absence of doubt

confidence · decisiveness · assurance · conviction · self-assurance

decision finality

second guessesstands by

Supports or awaits action

follows through · holds firm · doubles down · sees through · accepts

trust in others' judgment

second guessestrusts

Believes in reliability

believes in · stands by · backs · supports · endorses

Family

second, guess, guesses, guessing, guessed, guesser, seconded, seconding, seconds

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G