misgiving
Americannoun
noun
Related Words
See apprehension.
Other Word Forms
- misgivingly adverb
- unmisgiving adjective
- unmisgivingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of misgiving
Explanation
If you have misgivings about something, it means you're worried that it's not a good idea. Trying to fall asleep the night before a test, you might have misgivings about having studied so little. Misgivings are feelings of doubt you experience about something before you do it. As you get closer to the time you actually get on the airplane, you might begin to have misgivings about traveling far away to go to college, or you might have misgivings about joining the army to pay for your education.
Vocabulary lists containing misgiving
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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The Crucible
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A Raisin in the Sun
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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.
But I had no such misgiving at the Ahmanson, whether because of some slight editing or perhaps just a smoother handling of the setup moments.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025
Despite their misgiving, both Lancaster and Wilson publicly urged their colleagues to ratify the tentative agreement, saying that rejecting it wouldn’t lead to better outcomes.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 29, 2023
And it was my primary misgiving about the entire project, right?
From Salon • May 29, 2022
He seems to have understood everything from varieties of sword to species of misgiving.
From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2021
Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge— she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
