Advertisement

Advertisement

flatfooted

[ flat-foot-id ]

adjective

  1. having flatfeet.
  2. taking or showing an uncompromising stand in a matter; firm and explicit:

    a flatfooted denial.

  3. clumsy or plodding; maladroit:

    flatfooted writing.



Discover More

Other Words From

  • flatfooted·ly adverb
  • flatfooted·ness noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of flatfooted1

First recorded in 1595–1605; flatfoot + -ed 3
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. catch one flatfooted, to catch one unprepared; surprise:

    The amount of the bill caught us flatfooted.

Discover More

Example Sentences

"Winn, I won't do it," said Brayton, with flatfooted decision.

At each encore the Utes stamped their flatfooted way round the room in a kind of impromptu and mirthful dance.

He'd cite examples of how the whites would stand flatfooted and fight for the blacks the same as for members of their own family.

So my dignity was shocked when I had to come down from my self-promoted position to a flatfooted infantryman again.

She looked up, puzzled, first at the comely, flatfooted Indian woman and afterward at the handsome little brown-faced papoose.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


flatfootflat-grained