unawares

1. 1.

   without forethought or plan; inadvertently

   “came upon the diamond unawares”
2. 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”
3. 3.

   at a disadvantage

   “I was caught short”

   Synonymsshort

Questions about unawares

What does unawares mean?

unawares means "without forethought or plan; inadvertently". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in unawares?

unawares has 3 syllables: unaw-a-res. The stress falls on "res". In IPA it is /ˌʌnəˈwɛɹz/.