unawares

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},
       {unawares}]
    

Unawares \Un`a*wares"\, adv.
   Without design or preparation; suddenly; without
   premeditation, unexpectedly. "Mercies lighting unawares."
   --J. H. Newman.
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         Lest unawares we lose
         This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill. --Milton.
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   {At unaware}, or {At unawares}, unexpectedly; by surprise.
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            He breaks at unawares upon our walks. --Dryden.
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            So we met
            In this old sleepy town at unaware.   --R. Browning.
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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