unsuspecting
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If you're unsuspecting, you are innocent and trusting. An unsuspecting tourist will be blissfully unaware that the smiling old lady on the subway has stolen his wallet. If you lack a sense of suspicion or distrust, especially in the face of some kind of danger, you're unsuspecting. A criminal's unsuspecting victims find themselves utterly surprised that they've been robbed, and an unsuspecting hiker wanders right into a bear's den. In both cases, a little bit of suspicion would have served them well.
Vocabulary lists containing unsuspecting
Wonder
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The Hate U Give
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Small as an Elephant
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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.
What the Emmy-winning series has undeniably done is bring soccer into millions of unsuspecting households that had previously avoided the sport like a plague.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
As with other cases reported in recent weeks by OpenAI and Anthropic, the AI model was tuned to be capable of hacking and then inadvertently unleashed onto unsuspecting victims during benchmark testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The report documents instances that may constitute federal wire fraud, revealing that unsuspecting private donors who intended to support the congressionally chartered foundation were apparently surreptitiously handed Freedom 250’s bank account and routing numbers instead.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Unsurprisingly, many unsuspecting fans could not help but stop and take in Osaka's latest fashion statement as the 28-year-old passed them on the walkway.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
After some initial confusion over how a sheep had suddenly materialized in the observatory, the children jostled for turns to look through the lens at the unsuspecting creature.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
