unwittingly

American  

[uhn-wit-ing-lee] / ʌnˈwɪt ɪŋ li /

adverb

1. without meaning to; unintentionally.

   Users who visit infected websites could unwittingly download malware that steals information in their computers.

2. through ignorance; through lack of knowledge or awareness.

   A number of women have been unwittingly lured into this scheme by being told they were working on a very important project.

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Etymology

Origin of unwittingly

unwitting ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

When you do something unwittingly, you don't do it on purpose. It's completely accidental or unintentional, like when you unwittingly offended the Queen by not curtseying properly. If you know exactly what you're doing, you're not doing it unwittingly; you're doing it intentionally. This adverb comes from unwitting and its Old English root unwitende, "ignorant." Wit means "knowledge," so if you do something unwittingly, you act without knowledge. If you post too much personal information online, you might unwittingly set yourself up to have your identity stolen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unwittingly

Some traveling media expressed anger at having unwittingly served as decoys, while others complained about deception and lack of communication from the White House.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

But Balogun may have unwittingly played a role in the team’s demise as well.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

He is cunning, not intelligent — something he unwittingly proves every time he claims that passing a basic mental competency test shows his brilliance.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

Multiple times throughout the session, one caregiver unwittingly demonstrated this dynamic when his wife kept interrupting the conversation off-screen to say she was going to church even though it was a Saturday afternoon.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

I was now convinced that my father had unwittingly taken it with him.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• accidentally
• unintentionally