unawares

English

Etymology

From unaware +‎ -s (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈwɛə(ɹ)z/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)z

Adverb

unawares (not comparable)

1. Unexpectedly or by surprise.
   • 1815 [1802], William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence:

     And I with these untoward thoughts had striven, / I saw a Man before me unawares: / The oldest Man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs.

2. Inadvertently.
3. Without plan or forethought.

Related terms

• at unawares
• unaware (adjective)
• unawarely

Translations

unexpectedly or by surprise

Bulgarian: неочаквано (bg) (neočakvano), ненадейно (bg) (nenadejno) Chinese: Mandarin: 無意中／无意中 (zh) (wúyìzhōng) Danish: uforvarende, på sengen Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: yllättäen (fi) French: au dépourvu (fr), à l’improviste (fr) Irish: gan fhios Norwegian: Bokmål: uforvarende, på sengen (no) Polish: znienacka (pl), niespodziewanie (pl) (literally “unexpectedly”) Russian: враспло́х (ru) (vrasplóx), неожи́данно (ru) (neožídanno, literally “unexpectedly”) Sanskrit: अम्नस् (sa) (amnas) Scottish Gaelic: gun fhiosta Ukrainian: знена́цька (znenácʹka), несподі́вано (nespodívano, literally “unexpectedly”)

inadvertently — see inadvertently

without plan or forethought

Bulgarian: неумишлено (bg) (neumišleno) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: uplanlagt Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: miettimättä French: à l’improviste (fr) Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can