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
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
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.
