as in unprepared
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Recent Examples of flat-footed
And those of us who stay flat-footed on Earth are well accustomed to lift-off cancellations and postponed blastoffs.
—
Arkansas Online, 28 Feb. 2026
The Rangers had some early success using it to clog the middle of the ice, but too often got caught flat-footed and were left vulnerable to odd-man rushes.
—Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
But the person also predicted that some of crypto’s allies in Washington could be caught flat-footed by the banking ramp-up.
—Rachel Witkowski, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Interestingly the Milei administration appeared to have been caught flat-footed by the news.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flat-footed
Arkansas Online, 28 Feb. 2026
The Rangers had some early success using it to clog the middle of the ice, but too often got caught flat-footed and were left vulnerable to odd-man rushes.
—Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
But the person also predicted that some of crypto’s allies in Washington could be caught flat-footed by the banking ramp-up.
—Rachel Witkowski, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Interestingly the Milei administration appeared to have been caught flat-footed by the news.
—Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flat-footed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flat-footed
Adjective
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In December, Chelsea’s players looked inexplicably unprepared for the intensity of this long-time rivalry and were caught out via defensive errors.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
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In the years that followed, Koh worked as a food delivery rider, a parcel courier, a bar worker and a livestreamer selling mobile accessories – experiences that fed directly into the third film’s portrait of a young man thrown unprepared into adult life.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The drawdowns have left the US underprepared for potential conflict with Russia or China; in particular, replacing stockpiles of air-defense missiles — critical to supporting Taiwan should China invade — could take six years, The Wall Street Journal reported.—
Semafor Events,
semafor.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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As a result, too many students with learning differences spend their school years being underestimated, undertaught, and ultimately underprepared.—
Sherri Helvie,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Andrews has gone viral multiple times for demystifying how ballroom dancers get ready, and, more specifically, unready.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
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If Orion is deemed unready for the TLI burn, Artemis 2 will get no farther than Earth orbit.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flat-footed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flat-footed. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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