unprovoked

/ ʌnprəˈvəʊkt /

adjective

1. not provoked by anything done or said

Example Sentences

In one recent incident filmed by a bystander and widely circulated among Kenyans, police shot a Nairobi street vendor in the head at point-blank range, apparently unprovoked.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

That database only tracks "unprovoked" incidents – excluding those potentially encouraged by humans through activities such as spear fishing – but a fuller database of all recorded shark interactions in Australia is maintained by Taronga Conservation Society.

Read more on BBC

Louise Oakley, prosecuting, said the Crown's case was that the three girls had carried out "unprovoked violence" in their attack.

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At the time of the incident, the Prison Officers Association said the staff sustained life-threatening injuries including burns, scalds and stab wounds in an "unprovoked" and "vicious" attack.

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Sometimes, he said, the occupants will shout at him and other neighbors unprovoked.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• baseless 
• gratuitous 
• groundless 
• indefensible 
• inexcusable 
• unconscionable 
• undue 
• unfair 
• unfounded 
• unjust 
• unjustifiable 
• unjustified 
• unreasonable