unprovoked
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something that's unprovoked is done for no good reason, with no real cause. A slap across your face is unprovoked if you did nothing to make the slapper mad at you. President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously described the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, which brought the US into World War II, as "unprovoked and dastardly." A military action that isn't reacting against a previous attack is unprovoked, and a furious outburst from your friend is also unprovoked if you gave him no reason to be angry. Unprovoked comes from the verb provoke, to deliberately incite anger or annoyance in someone. The Latin root is provocare, "call forth or challenge."
Vocabulary lists containing unprovoked
Hoot
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Dear Martin
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Purple Hibiscus
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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.
Unprovoked bites are the most useful for studying how sharks behave.
From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 2024
Unprovoked attacks on humans by healthy mountain lions were rare enough to make the newspapers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2022
Unprovoked Wyatt attacks on The Miz and Bray Wyatt’s interpretation of his fame-obsessed personality have added interesting vulnerability to an always confident WWE Superstar.
From Forbes • Nov. 18, 2013
Unprovoked injuries are often inflicted, and even the peculiar felicity of our situation might with some be a cause for excitement and aggression.
From A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 2, part 1: James Monroe by Richardson, James D. (James Daniel)
Unprovoked, un-prō-vōkt′, adj. not having received provocation, uncalled for.—adv.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
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.
