wait for the other shoe to drop
Expect inevitable outcome
To wait for the other shoe to drop is to anticipate an inevitable follow-up event, usually negative.
The image comes from hearing someone remove one shoe overhead—you know the second will fall.
The phrase suggests anxious expectation: After the first round of layoffs, we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Belief about future outcomes
- suspenseAnxious uncertainty about outcomes
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- waitingRemaining in expectation
watchfulness · alertness · vigilance · readiness · bracing · countdown · limbo · holding breath
Fearful anticipation of harm
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- uneaseMild persistent worry
worry · premonition · misgiving · pessimism · ominous · doom · fatalism · sinking feeling
expectation
Belief about future outcomes
- suspenseAnxious uncertainty about outcomes
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
waiting · watchfulness · alertness · vigilance · readiness · bracing · countdown · limbo · holding breath · on edge
foreboding
Fearful anticipation of harm
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
unease · worry · premonition · misgiving · pessimism · ominous · doom · fatalism · sinking feeling · bad omen
wait for the other shoe to droprest easy
Feel calm, unburdened
breathe easy · relax · let one's guard down · go with the flow
wait for the other shoe to dropcount one's blessings
Acknowledge one's good fortune
wait for the other shoe to dropblissful ignorance