hand-wringing

noun

Definition of hand-wringingnext
as in worry
disapproving worried talk or behavior There has been a lot of silly hand-wringing over the latest hike in interest rates.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hand-wringing There has been a lot of hand-wringing lately about whether artists can still afford to live in New York. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 27 Aug. 2026 Ocasio-Cortez’s choice to share her egg-freezing publicly has kicked off furious debate and confused hand-wringing among conservatives. — Anna Russell, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026 New baby 3, fifth draft… In between, much hand-wringing, catastrophising, drinking of wine, learning of nursery rhymes. — Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026 This has no relevance to anything, but Malcolm’s hand-wringing about the cat’s mental health is just so revealing there. — Merve Emre, The New York Review of Books, 11 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hand-wringing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-wringing
  1. worry
  2. concern
  3. anxiety
  4. panic
  5. anguish
  6. fear
  7. tension
  8. desperation
Noun
  • There are so many organizations working to protect the voting process -- including many that cannot legally coordinate with each other -- that some officials involved worry about unintentionally creating chaos outside polling locations.
    — STEVE PEOPLES, Arkansas Online, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Those talks collapsed over price and worries about antitrust pushback, neither of which hold true today.
    — Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of worry
Noun
  • Carter also expressed concern about taking action that could disenfranchise eligible voters and create chaos.
    — Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The home has always been cluttered but apparently it’s gotten to a point of concern.
    — Eric Thomas, Sun Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of concern
Noun
  • Research has also found that across generational groups, greater user tendency to engage in social comparison, together with greater maladaptive ways of coping with emotions, is associated with more symptoms of anger, anxiety, and depression.
    — Ashwini Nadkarni, Time, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The market for profiting off male body anxiety is nothing new.
    — Gavin Francis, The New York Review of Books, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of anxiety
Noun
  • This week, Indonesian equities experienced another round of panic selling, triggered by reports that major index provider MSCI is considering downgrading the country's stock market status.
    — , CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The few instances of panic were magnified by newspapers eager to discredit the new medium of radio.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of panic
Noun
  • In a masterful unbroken shot, Klaus is on the phone from France with his sister, expressing his bottomless anguish.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Polly, by contrast, reads the manuscript and is immediately filled with anguish and all-consuming fury.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of anguish
Noun
  • Fortune recently reported on wealthy parents’ growing fear that their fortunes will sap their children’s drive.
    — Molly A. Wallace, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Coupled with job-displacement fears from AI, opponents now point to the facilities as a physical symbol of who benefits from the boom and who gets stuck with the bill.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of fear
Noun
  • Also hanging over the election were lingering tensions with Iran.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026
  • This tension has given rise to a subgenre of Hong Kong horror films in which high-density housing is a spooky backdrop for exploring superstition and socioeconomic anxieties.
    — Hari Raj, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of tension
Noun
  • The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback dislocated his right thumb when his throwing hand hit Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman on a desperation pass on fourth down that was intercepted late in the fourth quarter of a 23-16 loss in Week 3.
    — Rob Maaddi, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Such a gamble could deepen Israel’s insecurity, but electoral desperation seldom improves anyone’s judgment.
    — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of desperation

Browse Nearby Words

handwringers
hand-wringing
handwriting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hand-wringing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-wringing. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All