buyer's remorse
Americannoun
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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.
-
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.
Etymology
Origin of buyer's remorse
First recorded in 1965–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It was kind of incredibly old-fashioned, but very sweet. We kept waiting for buyer’s remorse, but it never happened,” she recalled.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
However, there is evidence of buyer's remorse through their opening of negotiations with Cricket Australia over an agreement to guarantee better preparation on future Ashes tours.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2025
Amazon isn’t oblivious to the buyer’s remorse that can follow too much impulse purchasing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Companies that had spent big, to say the least, on Nvidia semiconductors could have buyer’s remorse if it becomes clear that less expensive chips can perform equally well.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
Some come back to the store the next morning accompanied by a whack of buyer's remorse.
From Ebooks: Neither E, Nor Books by Doctorow, Cory
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
