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

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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

He believes she was dragged, unwittingly, into the whole affair.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Your husband, whether unwittingly or not, has allowed his own judgment to be clouded by the inheritance issue.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

By laughing at robots, am I unwittingly participating in that effort?

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

In this way and others, he says, professors may unwittingly discourage or alienate students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Had my father unwittingly taken it with him?

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

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Related Words

• accidentally
• unintentionally

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