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

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

That, Warsh has argued, has crowded the Fed into markets where it doesn’t belong and unwittingly subsidized federal borrowing.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

It found this system had been unwittingly incentivised to mention goblins, gremlins and other creatures more in metaphors.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

Perhaps unwittingly, Chatrie had agreed to have Google store his location history data.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

“Be careful, Dana,” he said, unwittingly echoing Rufus.

From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler

Related Words

• accidentally
• unintentionally