wrong-foot

British  

verb

1. sport to play a shot in such a way as to cause (one's opponent) to be off balance

2. to take by surprise so as to place in an embarrassing or disadvantageous situation

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wrong-foot Idioms  

1. Deceive by moving differently from what one expects, as in He won quite a few points by wrong-footing his opponent. This expression comes from tennis, where it means to hit the ball in the direction the opponent is moving away from. It was transferred to other applications in the late 1900s, as in Susan Larson's review of a concert: “Music wrong-footing and deceiving the ear” (Boston Globe, November 1, 1994).

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Example Sentences

The war comes to be defined by the Spartan general Brasidas, who goes on to wrong-foot Thucydides in 424 B.C., and Cleon, who may have engineered Thucydides’ exile.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

I kind of wanted to wrong-foot him with that drive volley, and I missed.”

From Washington Times • Jul. 16, 2023

Three minutes after the break, Dack's shot diverted off Jack Simpson to wrong-foot Cardiff keeper Ryan Allsop.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2023

Villa went ahead in the 22nd minute after Countinho’s low shot following Cash’s cross took a faint touch off Pascal Struijk to wrong-foot Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 10, 2022

In a league where teams covet plug-and-play diagrams, Leftwich prefers bespoke schemes designed to wrong-foot the defense and options that use the breadth of Brady’s experience.

From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2022