blindside
Americanverb (used with object)
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Sports. to tackle, hit, or attack (an opponent) from the blind side.
The quarterback was blindsided and had the ball knocked out of his hand.
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to attack critically where a person is vulnerable, uninformed, etc..
The president was blindsided by the press on the latest tax bill.
Etymology
Origin of blindside
First recorded in 1970–75; verb use of noun phrase blind side
Explanation
To blindside is to launch a surprise attack, especially one that comes from an obstructed or hidden place. Your video game army might blindside your friend's army, resulting in your victory. If you come up from behind your brother and shove him, you can say that you blindside him. There is also a more figurative way to blindside someone — simply to do or say something the person is utterly unprepared for. You could blindside your family, for example, by suddenly announcing that you're moving to China. The oldest use of blindside as a verb, around 1968, referred to a football tackle.
Vocabulary lists containing blindside
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Lyrics from "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" by Baz Luhrmann
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Five Feet Apart
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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.
See Examples For:
Tiny funds tend not to last long so the wave of launches this year and next is almost guaranteed to bring hundreds of closures that can blindside unsuspecting owners with tax bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
In the forwards, George Martin makes his first England start since the 2025 Six Nations, joining Alex Coles in the second row with Ollie Chessum on the blindside flank.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Pollock lines up at number eight as part of a reshaped back row that sees Ben Earl move to openside and Tom Curry come in at blindside.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
Late in the fourth quarter, Wentz was leveled from the blindside by blitzers Cam Hart and Troy Dye.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
Better to prepare her for the worst than let it blindside her.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Jordan Firstman’s sincere, funny and genuinely moving debut feature has him playing a queer New York underground party promoter blindsided by the arrival of the 10-year-old son previously unknown to him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
It says a lot about Sophie, who was blindsided by the breakup, that she thanked him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
If you have a problem with being blindsided by requests for money, I’d cut ties now.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Nik said the couple felt "blindsided" by the fact that their sperm donor could withdraw consent at that stage.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Furious at being blindsided by the appointment, Bush dodged Groves’s brusque queries about the state of the project and dashed off a prickly letter to Stimson’s assistant, Harvey Bundy.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
It’s more than fair to say that this dust-up isn’t a new development that is blindsiding investors.
From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2025
Fox News host turned Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth faced an investigation over a sexual assault allegation, blindsiding President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, according to news reports.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2024
"Manage expectations, because this is going to happen, rather than just blindsiding us out of nowhere, which is what has happened," he says.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024
“It’s been awful. It’s been blindsiding, it’s been a shock because I personally love the L.A. Times and I loved working for you guys and ... that’s gone.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
Reckitt recently raised prices on some formulas, blindsiding some parents already frustrated with the struggle to find certain brands.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
