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Synonyms

flat-footed

British  
/ ˌflætˈfʊtɪd /

adjective

  1. having flatfoot

  2. informal

    1. clumsy or awkward

    2. downright and uncompromising

  3. informal off guard or unawares (often in the phrase catch flat-footed )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
flat-footed Idioms  

  1. see caught flat-footed.

Other Word Forms

  • flat-footedly adverb
  • flat-footedness noun

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.

OpenAI was caught flat-footed after Anthropic released a new version of its coding tool Claude Code last fall, but has since poured more resources into its Codex coding assistant and prioritized sales to business customers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Wood dictated the tempo across 12 rounds against a frustrated, flat-footed Warrington.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 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

Caught flat-footed by the success of that video app, then owned by ByteDance, Instagram launched Reels in August 2020.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026

Seabiscuit ate up the length of rein, bounding past Special Agent and leaving Woolf and Indian Broom flat-footed.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Definitions 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.