flat-footed

flat +‎ footed

flat-footed

1. Having feet which are flat.

   Bears are flat-footed animals.

2. (of humans) Having the specific physical condition of flat feet.
   • 1973, Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk, translated by Cecil Parrott, London: Heinemann, Part II, Chapter 4, p. 385,

     […] the volunteer from the 9th company was shot because he wouldn't advance and made the excuse that he had swollen legs and was flat-footed.

3. Holding firmly and maintaining a decision; standing one's ground.

   1892 Frank Millet: "I write in this way to urge you to be explicit and flat-footed in your wishes." Quoted in: 2003 Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, →ISBN, page 177.

4. Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse.
   • 2006, William Terdoslavich, The Jack Ryan Agenda, →ISBN:

     Two Saudi battalions and a Qatari armored battalion were tasked with retaking the town, which they did in a slow and flat-footed fashion, supported by ample U.S. artillery and air power.

   • 2012, Jesse J. Prinz, The Conscious Brain: How Attention Engenders Experience, →ISBN:

     One flat-footed answer is that they are both mine.

flat-footed (comparative more flat-footed, superlative most flat-footed)

1. (informal) Unprepared to act.

   They caught us flat-footed.

flat-footed

1. simple past tense and past participle of flat-foot