caught flat-footed

Idioms

Caught unprepared, taken by surprise, as in The reporter's question caught the President flat-footed. This usage comes from one or another sport in which a player should be on his or her toes, ready to act. [c. 1900]

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:

caught flat-footed

It stands to reason the Fed can’t afford to be caught flat-footed on inflation again.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

Still, it was caught flat-footed by the arrival of high-functioning chatbots in the form of ChatGPT in late 2022.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

But Newsom had just admitted he was also caught flat-footed, too.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2024

Foreign automakers selling in China have been caught flat-footed by an electric vehicle boom that has shaken up the market, the world’s largest, over the last three years.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2024

It was natural that such an excuse would be offered when the fellows were caught flat-footed.

From Interference and Other Football Stories by Harold Morrow Sherman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023