Caught Flat-footed Definition & Meaning

Definition

Examples

caught flat-footed Idioms

1. Caught unprepared, taken by surprise, as in The reporter's question caught the President flat-footed. This usage comes from one or another sport in which a player should be on his or her toes, ready to act. [c. 1900]

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.

“And the city got caught flat-footed trying to keep up.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Caught flat-footed by the success of that video app, then owned by ByteDance, Instagram launched Reels in August 2020.

From The Wall Street Journal

Caught flat-footed, Google declared its own “code red” that year as it raced to catch up.

From The Wall Street Journal

The startup was caught flat-footed after the viral release of ChatGPT, which gave OpenAI a giant user base and a lengthy head start on sales.

From The Wall Street Journal

Caught flat-footed by 9/11, the CIA requested new authorities as the only way to catch up to the threat.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.