What is Testing the Waters?
You're testing the waters rather than committing fully, keeping your options open as you feel things out. This can be a sign of thoughtfulness rather than uncertainty, especially in ambiguous situations. Naming your tentativeness helps others calibrate how to interpret your inputs.
When you might feel testing the waters
Testing the Waters is a specific form of hesitant, which itself is a type of uncertain. You might experience this feeling in situations where uncertain is present, particularly when the circumstances align with the nuances that define testing the waters.