buyer's remorse

Also buy·er re·morse

[bahy-erz ri-mawrs]

noun

1. a sense of regret or uneasiness after having purchased a house, car, or other major item, especially when the acquisition involves an ongoing financial burden.

   We love our vacation property, but it took two years to get over our buyer’s remorse.

2. a sense of regret after having committed to an endorsement, policy, plan of action, etc..

   Congressional leaders expressed buyer’s remorse after overriding the president’s veto.

Word History and Origins

Origin of buyer's remorse¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

These buyouts represent a growing trend in college football: Schools give out big contracts to their football coaches in an effort to lure recruits and stay competitive, only to suffer buyer’s remorse when those coaches underperform or leave before their contracts are finished.

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Military juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, according to a senior U.S. military official, are now experiencing “buyer’s remorse” after ousting U.S. and French troops over the past three years and, to varying degrees, accepting Moscow’s help fighting al Qaeda and Islamic State insurgents.

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Fonda believes many now have buyer’s remorse.

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“There’s no buyer’s remorse,” said Michael Payne, a sports marketer and former longtime IOC executive.

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This buyer’s remorse is just beginning, and we need to provide an off-ramp for the increasingly uncertain.

Read more on Salon