unarmed

[uhn-ahrmd]

adjective

1. without weapons or armor.

2. not having claws, thorns, scales, etc., as animals or plants.

3. (of an artillery shell) not armed.

unarmed

/ ʌnˈɑːmd /

adjective

1. without weapons

2. (of animals and plants) having no claws, prickles, spines, thorns, or similar structures

3. of or relating to a projectile that does not use a detonator to initiate explosive action

Word History and Origins

Origin of unarmed¹

A Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; un- ¹, armed ²

Example Sentences

The fake videos included one in which an old woman fed apples to a bear, and another in which an unarmed high school student fended off a bear with her bare hands.

Read more on Barron's

“We believe he did not have to fire four times, at a man who was running away and unarmed … striking him twice in the back, and paralyzing him for life,” the prosecutor said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She denies ever issuing an order to fire on unarmed civilians.

Read more on BBC

"I'm not denying that the situation got out of control, nor that many lives were lost needlessly. But I never issued any order to fire on unarmed civilians," she said.

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Museum guards are often unarmed, and valuable works are kept in vulnerable display cases rather than vaults.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• helpless 
• powerless