Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to second-guess
Participle: second-guessed
Gerund: second-guessing
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | second-guess |
| you | second-guess |
| he;she;it | second-guesses |
| we | second-guess |
| you | second-guess |
| they | second-guess |
Perfect
| I | have second-guessed |
| you | have second-guessed |
| he;she;it | has second-guessed |
| we | have second-guessed |
| you | have second-guessed |
| they | have second-guessed |
Past
| I | second-guessed |
| you | second-guessed |
| he;she;it | second-guessed |
| we | second-guessed |
| you | second-guessed |
| they | second-guessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had second-guessed |
| you | had second-guessed |
| he;she;it | had second-guessed |
| we | had second-guessed |
| you | had second-guessed |
| they | had second-guessed |
Future
| I | will second-guess |
| you | will second-guess |
| he;she;it | will second-guess |
| we | will second-guess |
| you | will second-guess |
| they | will second-guess |
Future Perfect
| I | will have second-guessed |
| you | will have second-guessed |
| he;she;it | will have second-guessed |
| we | will have second-guessed |
| you | will have second-guessed |
| they | will have second-guessed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | second-guess |
| you | second-guess |
| he;she;it | second-guess |
| we | second-guess |
| you | second-guess |
| they | second-guess |
Perfect
| I | have second-guessed |
| you | have second-guessed |
| he;she;it | have second-guessed |
| we | have second-guessed |
| you | have second-guessed |
| they | have second-guessed |
Imperfect
| I | second-guessed |
| you | second-guessed |
| he;she;it | second-guessed |
| we | second-guessed |
| you | second-guessed |
| they | second-guessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had second-guessed |
| you | had second-guessed |
| he;she;it | had second-guessed |
| we | had second-guessed |
| you | had second-guessed |
| they | had second-guessed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would second-guess |
| you | would second-guess |
| he;she;it | would second-guess |
| we | would second-guess |
| you | would second-guess |
| they | would second-guess |
Perfect
| I | would have second-guessed |
| you | would have second-guessed |
| he;she;it | would have second-guessed |
| we | would have second-guessed |
| you | would have second-guessed |
| they | would have second-guessed |
Imperative
| you | second-guess |
| we | Let's second-guess |
| you | second-guess |
Verbs conjugated like 'second-guess'
abash,
abolish,
abroach,
accomplish,
accroach,
address,
admix,
admonish,
ado,
adpress,
affamish,
affix,
alloo,
amass,
ambush,
anguish,
annex,
appeach,
appears,
approach, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'second-guess'
congress,
decongest,
out-guess,
reconfess,
recongest,
second-act,
betongue,
codigest,
concuss,
confess,
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
A back-formation from second guesser, originally from baseball. First use appears c. 1941.
Sample Sentences
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Please don't try to second-guess the procedure that we have already refined and adopted.
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Once she began listening to her instincts and didn't second-guess herself the entire time, her artwork improved noticeably.
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Public administration would be hamstrung if courts were free to second-guess reasonable administrative decisions. [1959, U.S. Court of Appeals proceedings:]
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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. [1957, United States Senate proceedings:]
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If you suspect you've stepped over the line, ask a few other copy editors to second-guess your headline. [2003, Editing Today:]
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In this day and age, it's so easy to stress / 'Cause people are strange and you can never second-guess [2000, Paul Godfrey, Ross Godfrey, Skye Edwards, “Rome Wasn't Built In a Day”, in Fragments of Freedom, performed by Morcheeba:]
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The Securities and Exchange Commission says Goldman misled two clients by failing to give adequate disclosure.[…] It is impossible to second-guess the case's outcome. But Goldman is already viewed by many as guilty. [2010 April 24, “Greedy Until Proven Guilty”, in The Economist, volume 395, number 8679, page 13:]
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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. [2019 November 6, Dennis Fancett, Rail, page 54:]