mis ‧ giv ‧ ing /mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
a feeling of doubt or fear about what might happen or about whether something is right SYN doubt
misgiving about
Despite her misgivings about leaving the baby, she decided to accompany her husband.
grave/serious/deep misgivings
Some politicians have expressed grave misgivings about the scheme.
Opponents of nuclear energy have deep misgivings about its safety.
She eyed the distant shoreline with misgiving.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have misgivings
I had some misgivings about her marriage. She was very young.
▪ allay/quell sb’s misgivings (=stop someone from being worried)
He tried to allay her misgivings about the flight, with little success.
▪ express/voice your misgivings (=say what you are worried about)
Only a few Senators voiced their misgivings about the war.
■ adjectives
▪ grave/great/serious/severe misgivings (=serious and important worries)
Most of us have grave misgivings about the idea of human cloning.
▪ considerable misgivings (=a lot of worries)
He had considerable misgivings about taking the case to trial.
▪ deep/profound misgivings (=serious misgivings that will be difficult to solve)
Teachers have deep misgivings about allowing business values to be used in schools.
■ phrases
▪ despite/in spite of sb’s misgivings
Despite his misgivings, he decided to support the proposal.