unwitting
adjective
un·wit·ting
ˌən-ˈwi-tiŋ 
1
: not knowing : unaware
kept the truth from their unwitting friends
2
: not intended : inadvertent
an unwitting mistake
Synonyms
Examples of unwitting in a Sentence
He kept the truth from his unwitting friends.
an unwitting victim of fraud
Recent Examples on the Web
After the premiere of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen — the unwitting catalyst of a budding revolution — had children and teens braiding their hair and taking archery lessons.
—
Madeline Cisneros, EW.com, 19 May 2024
Investigators said the defendants' plot took months to plan but just 12 seconds to execute, allegedly raking in approximately $25 million from their unwitting victims.
—Robert Legare, CBS News, 15 May 2024
The episode furnished an unwitting referendum on the regime, revealing a certain hollowness inside the repressive strength.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
What emerges is an unwitting communication, signs of a separation needing to be bridged.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Turning low-income Americans into political pawns Despite the ACP’s popularity, routine congressional gridlock and the politics of an election year have turned low-income Americans into unwitting — and in many cases unwilling — pawns in a much larger battle.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
The government has acknowledged that Mexican drug-smuggling groups sometimes use the vehicles of unwitting victims — such as students or workers who cross the border at routine and predictable times — but maintain that such cases are rare.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024
The unusual situation where the two inmates could speak to each other while detained was designed by law enforcement purposely to record conversations between the unwitting defendants.
—Greg Fisher, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2024
Roussel has become one of the most popular figures in French politics, in part because of his sometimes unwitting adventures in the culture wars.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Madeline Cisneros, EW.com, 19 May 2024
Investigators said the defendants' plot took months to plan but just 12 seconds to execute, allegedly raking in approximately $25 million from their unwitting victims.
—Robert Legare, CBS News, 15 May 2024
The episode furnished an unwitting referendum on the regime, revealing a certain hollowness inside the repressive strength.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
What emerges is an unwitting communication, signs of a separation needing to be bridged.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Turning low-income Americans into political pawns Despite the ACP’s popularity, routine congressional gridlock and the politics of an election year have turned low-income Americans into unwitting — and in many cases unwilling — pawns in a much larger battle.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 23 Mar. 2024
The government has acknowledged that Mexican drug-smuggling groups sometimes use the vehicles of unwitting victims — such as students or workers who cross the border at routine and predictable times — but maintain that such cases are rare.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024
The unusual situation where the two inmates could speak to each other while detained was designed by law enforcement purposely to record conversations between the unwitting defendants.
—Greg Fisher, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2024
Roussel has become one of the most popular figures in French politics, in part because of his sometimes unwitting adventures in the culture wars.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unwitting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near unwitting
Cite this Entry
“Unwitting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unwitting. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unwitting
adjective
un·wit·ting
ˌən-ˈwit-iŋ
ˈən-
1
: not intended : inadvertent
an unwitting mistake
2
: not knowing : unaware
unwittingly
adverb
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