as in worry
disapproving
worried talk or behavior
There has been a lot of silly hand-wringing over the latest hike in interest rates.
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Recent Examples of hand-wringing
Popular culture parodies and hand-wringing headlines devalued this work by constructing influencers as glib and narcissistic.
—
Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
There was a fair bit of hand-wringing entering Tuesday’s contest about where or if Jeff Skinner fit into the equation.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
While hand-wringing Democrats and the media have focused on President Biden, Donald Trump met with Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 18 July 2024
Please, no more contrived hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about the Trump dictatorship.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 July 2024
Since last Monday, when Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer, the seventy-five-year-old monarch has been the subject of both hand-wringing concern and frenzied speculation.
—Anna Russell, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2024
Today, that hand-wringing delay has been nearly eliminated.
—Katie Palmer, STAT, 1 Dec. 2023
The combination of the new stadium, hand-wringing fans and — worst of all — disinterested indifference in the community has ripple effects beyond one locker room.
—Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2023
Both episodes benefit from a curiosity about human nature that goes beyond hand-wringing monologues about our capacity for greed or complacency, and an affection for people in all our absurd and messy glory.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2023
Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
There was a fair bit of hand-wringing entering Tuesday’s contest about where or if Jeff Skinner fit into the equation.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
While hand-wringing Democrats and the media have focused on President Biden, Donald Trump met with Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 18 July 2024
Please, no more contrived hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about the Trump dictatorship.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 July 2024
Since last Monday, when Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer, the seventy-five-year-old monarch has been the subject of both hand-wringing concern and frenzied speculation.
—Anna Russell, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2024
Today, that hand-wringing delay has been nearly eliminated.
—Katie Palmer, STAT, 1 Dec. 2023
The combination of the new stadium, hand-wringing fans and — worst of all — disinterested indifference in the community has ripple effects beyond one locker room.
—Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2023
Both episodes benefit from a curiosity about human nature that goes beyond hand-wringing monologues about our capacity for greed or complacency, and an affection for people in all our absurd and messy glory.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-wringing
Noun
-
Uncontrollable feelings of worry, unease, nervousness, and fear characterize anxiety disorders.—
Mark Gurarie,
Verywell Health,
3 Apr. 2025
-
Inflation, tariff worries drive consumers' outlooks to lowest levels in 12 years What are tariffs?—
Bailey Schulz,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Now, in the case of the United States, there’s no concern whatsoever with what anybody thinks on the outside.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2025
-
That’s a major concern for media as advertisers review budgets.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Recently announced job cuts at Johns Hopkins University, one of Maryland’s largest employers, and tens of thousands of others across the nation, however, are happening with an unsettling speed and efficiency, leaving countless workers in a state of anxiety, uncertainty and despair.—
Alan M. Langlieb,
Baltimore Sun,
31 Mar. 2025
-
They are marketed as an alternative for pain relief, anxiety, and sleep disorders.—
Steve Banker,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Footage of the building’s demise shows crowds of onlookers running away from the rubble in panic.—
Rebecca Schneid,
Time,
28 Mar. 2025
-
The sudden panic over Florida's special elections has finally put President Trump on the same page as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.): The GOP's margin is too close for comfort.—
Marc Caputo,
Axios,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
In the episode, Duran describes his mental anguish during that time and some of the steps he’s taken since then to improve his mental health.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
-
And all of that anguish of going through that process of retrying to develop my body in a way that will never be the same anyway.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Adolescence escalates all these issues and fears to their most horrifying symbolic end.—
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox,
Forbes.com,
5 Apr. 2025
-
By the end of the month, the new moon in Taurus invites you to embrace more intimacy and transformation in your love life, even if that means facing your fears in the process.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
5 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Buster’s also the apple of his mother Maggie’s eye, a lifelong source of tension with his younger brother Paul.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
-
This leaves Timothy with the gun, which created a lot of tension that is now basically gone.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Their primary motivation for entering tentative talks over Gomez was desperation, due to their need to comply with the Premier League’s PSR by June 30.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
-
The White House has responded with a series of stunts — a live presidential endorsement on the South Lawn, the commerce secretary shilling for Tesla stock on Fox News, the FBI threatening vandals with terrorism charges — that all smack of desperation.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN,
25 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hand-wringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-wringing. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
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