flat-footed
Britishadjective
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having flatfoot
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informal
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clumsy or awkward
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downright and uncompromising
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informal off guard or unawares (often in the phrase catch 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.
Still, when ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, Amazon was caught flat-footed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Rodriguez said the city is often left flat-footed when encampments pop up on hillsides and property owners don’t help address the issue.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
They were flat and flat-footed from the beginning, surrendering a 75-yard touchdown pass on Houston’s first possession and a 43-yard touchdown pass on the second.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2025
Gomez raced clear of the flat-footed Newcastle defence and fired against the near post.
From Barron's • Nov. 5, 2025
Since the terrible night of the ants, Mother had been creeping her remorse in flat-footed circles around me without ever speaking of it, wearing her guilt like the swollen breasts of a nursing mother.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
