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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.

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

Unable to trap West Ham with a high press, United were caught flat-footed by an incisive break.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

And the Senate Democrats were especially caught flat-footed because they were figuring it wouldn’t get out of the House.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2025

They don’t want to get caught flat-footed at a time when the state of the industry is already tenuous because of pay-TV cord-cutting, streaming losses and other factors.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 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 Sherman, Harold Morrow

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