Unawares

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Unawares \Un`a*wares"\, adv.
     Without design or preparation; suddenly; without
     premeditation, unexpectedly. "Mercies lighting unawares."
     --J. H. Newman.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           Lest unawares we lose
           This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {At unaware}, or {At unawares}, unexpectedly; by surprise.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He breaks at unawares upon our walks. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              So we met
              In this old sleepy town at unaware.   --R. Browning.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  unawares
       adv 1: without forethought or plan; inadvertently; "came upon the
              diamond unawares"
       2: suddenly and unexpectedly; "rain caught them unawares";
          "sorrow comes to all, and to the young it comes with
          bittered agony because it takes them unawares"- A.Lincoln
       3: at a disadvantage; "I was caught short" [syn: {short}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  55 Moby Thesaurus words for "unawares":
     aback, abruptly, accidentally, bang, by accident, by surprise,
     dash, guiltlessly, hastily, ignorantly, impetuously, implausibly,
     improbably, impulsively, inadvertently, innocently, insensibly,
     like a flash, like a thunderbolt, mistakenly, of a sudden,
     off base, on short notice, plop, plump, plunk, pop, precipitantly,
     precipitately, precipitously, sharp, short, slap, smack,
     startlingly, sudden, suddenly, surprisingly, unanticipatedly,
     unaware, unconsciously, unexpectedly, unforeseeably, unguiltily,
     unintentionally, unknowingly, unmindfully, unpredictably,
     unprepared, unready, unsuspectingly, unwittingly, without notice,
     without warning, witlessly