unawares

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The entire plot is driven by Blackthorne’s revelation that even the Christian lords’ European allies are secretly building an army with which they intend to take all of Japan unawares.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2024

That the government is always caught unawares shows a depressing underinvestment in the waterworks of its cities and its rural areas.

From BBC • Oct. 31, 2023

Because forecasters were caught unawares, so were local residents, who only expected perhaps a Category 2 storm.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2023

Or perhaps radioactivity would bring about a dystopian nightmare: As Rutherford liked to say, "Some fool in a laboratory might blow up the universe unawares" by triggering a planetary chain reaction.

From Salon • Aug. 12, 2023

‘I do not wish to meet that old man at unawares without an argument ready to hand, that is all. Let us go!’

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien