Unawares
[ʌnə'weəz] or [,ʌnə'wɛrz]
Definition
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) without forethought or plan; inadvertently; 'came upon the diamond unawares'.
Editor: Rosanne--From WordNet
Definition
(adv.) Without design or preparation; suddenly; without premeditation, unexpectedly.
Typed by Helga
Synonyms and Synonymous
ad. Unexpectedly, suddenly.
Checker: Presley
Examples
- She recognised him; she greeted him, and yet she was flutteredsurprised, taken unawares. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It came out quite unawares, quite undesignedly. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- That storm, the First French Revolution, the indignation of the common man in Europe, took their system unawares. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- She appeared to be cross-questioning me, attempting to draw from me information unawares. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Dorothea renewed the subject of the estate as they drove along, but Mr. Brooke, not being taken unawares, got the talk under his own control. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He had caught it unawares; many of the men were ashore and a council was being held in the flagship. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A letter came unawares, Perdita read it. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I can preserve myself from priests, and from churches; but love steals in unawares! Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- The Darwinian movement took formal Christianity unawares, suddenly. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I know just what I should say, for I've planned it all, so I needn't be taken unawares. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- You take me unawares, said he. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It takes me quite unawares. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- We had entertained an angel unawares, but we did not take her in. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- What he meant by slipping in this extraordinary question unawares, I was at a total loss to imagine. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- If so, she had indeed come to him unawares. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- A remark which takes a man unawares by means of his own coat is not an easy remark to answer. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- How soon may our own evil passions prove to be Oriental noblemen who pounce on us unawares! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- He had come back then, unawares. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Full sure was I that Madame had missed--was come in search of me, and designed now to pounce on the defaulter unawares. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- In health she had never been accustomed to think aloud, but now words escaped her lips unawares. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Checker: Presley