flat-footed

See also: flatfooted

English

WOTD – 12 September 2025

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌflætˈfʊtɪd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈflætˌfʊtəd/, /ˌflætˈfʊtəd/, [-ɾəd]
• Rhymes: (one pronunciation) -ʊtɪd
• Hyphenation: flat-foot‧ed

Etymology 1

From flat (adjective) +‎ footed (adjective).

The soles of the feet of a flat-footed person (adjective sense 2).

Adjective

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

1. Of an animal: having feet which are naturally flat; (specifically) of a horse: having hoofs with soles close to the ground.

   Bears are flat-footed animals.

   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XI.] Of Birds Feet, and Their Clawes or Tallons.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 351:

     [T]here have ben novv of late, Serpents knovvn flat-footed like Geeſe.

   • 1699, William Dampier, chapter II, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part II (Mr. Dampier’s Voyages to the Bay of Campeachy), page 70:

     Pelicans are large flat-footed Fovvls, almoſt as big as Geeſe, and their Feathers in colour like them: […]

   • 1980, Peter Hellman, “Tree Number E-37: Sietske Postma and Family”, in Avenue of the Righteous, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum, →ISBN, page 82:

     He claimed that Jews walk flatfooted like a camel—including me.

3. Of a person: having the physical condition of flat feet (“a condition where the soles of the feet are in full contact with the ground, either because the arches have collapsed or because they never developed”).
   • 1973, Jaroslav Hašek, “New Sufferings”, in Cecil Parrott, transl., The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War […], London: Penguin Books in association with William Heinemann, →ISBN, part II (At the Front), page 385:

     [T]he 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.

   • 1986, F[rancis] Paul Wilson, “Dat Tay Vao”, in The Touch (The Adversary Cycle; III), New York, N.Y.: Putnam, →ISBN; republished in Shane Jiraiya Cummings, editor, Rage against the Night, Woodvale, W.A.: Brimstone Press, March 2012, →ISBN, section 1, page 199:

     The figure came up and squatted flatfooted on his haunches next to Patsy. In the dim glow of starlight and streetlight he saw a wrinkled face and a silvery goatee.

4. (by extension) Of a thing (especially (rail transport) a rail): having a flat base; flat-bottomed.
   • 1889, George Findlay, “Permanent Way”, in The Working and Management of an English Railway. […], 2nd edition, London: Whittaker & Co, […]; George Bell & Sons, […], →OCLC, page 42:

     These rails, […] were of the "fish-bellied" pattern, but in practice, and as the demand increased, these were found troublesome to roll, and this difficulty led to the introduction of the flat-bottomed or "flat-footed" section of rail, combining a solid head with a flanged base.

5. (figurative)
   1. Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse; clumsy.

      Synonym: maladroit

      • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXVII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 276:

        The thing made a big stir in the town, too, and a good many come out flat-footed and said it was scandalous to separate the mother and the children that way.

      • 2006, William Terdoslavich, “Weapons: The Right Tools for the Right Plot”, in The Jack Ryan Agenda: Policy and Politics in the Novels of Tom Clancy: An Unauthorized Analysis, New York, N.Y.: Forge, →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.

      • 2010, Chris Lewit, Tennis Technique Bible: The Essential Reference for Mastering World-class Strokes and Footwork, volume 1, [Manchester, Vt.]: Chris Lewit Tennis, →ISBN, page 20:

        I have many top ranked sectional and national level kids come to my program and I cannot even believe how flatfooted they are—not because they lack the talent—simply because no coach ever demanded the extra footwork effort from them.

      • 2012, Jesse J. Prinz, “Whence the Unity of Consciousness? Attentional Resonance”, in The Conscious Brain: How Attention Engenders Experience (Philosophy of Mind), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Metaphysical Puzzles of Consciousness), page 250:

        I can't experience your experiences. What special relation to two experiences in my head have that an experience in my head lacks with respect to an experience in yours? One flat-footed answer is that they are both mine.

      • 2017 March 21, Michiko Kakutani, “‘The Death of Expertise’ explores how ignorance became a virtue”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 April 2025:

        "The Death of Expertise" [by Tom Nichols, 2017] turns out to be an unexceptional book about an important subject. […] [I]t's more of a flat-footed compendium than an original work, pulling together examples from recent news stories while iterating arguments explored in more depth in books like Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason," Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason," Robert Hughes's "Culture of Complaint" and, of course, Richard Hofstadter's 1963 classic, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life."

      • 2019 April 11, Marcel Theroux, “Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan review – intelligent mischief”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 June 2025:

        […] [Ian] McEwan's narrator, […] explicitly sets out his world, overexplains the historical context and never turns down a chance to offer an essayistic digression. To my taste, this is a flat-footed way of doing sci-fi.

   2. (US) Unprepared, unready.

      They were caught flat-footed when Clancy filed to enter the race.

      • 2007, David D. Corbett, with Richard Higgins, “Trailblazing”, in Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50, San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 12:

        To those who are younger, perhaps still building a career, I say to you, plan for it! No one should be caught flatfooted by the lengthening of middle age.

      • 2009, Tami Hoag, Deeper than the Dead, London: Orion Books, Orion Publishing Group, published 2010, →ISBN, page 244:

        Caught mentally flatfooted, Anne couldn't think of a response. She was guilty as charged. She didn't deserve to defend herself.

      • 2026 January 17, Simon Stone, Shamoon Hafez, “Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City”, in BBC‎^[3]:

        Eleven minutes later, United doubled their lead as City defender Rico Lewis was caught flat-footed, allowing Dorgu to nip in front of him and turn home Matheus Cunha's cut-back.

   3. (originally US, informal, dated) Direct, downright, straightforward; also, holding firmly to and maintaining a decision; standing one's ground.
      • 1834 January, [James Strange French], “Buck Horn Tavern, a Scene in the West”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume III, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Clark and Edson, →OCLC, page 35:

        Now, you need'nt talk 'bout your shoes, kase you see I'm barefooted, I haint got no shoes, tis true, but I stand flat-footed and damn the man who can move me one inch—do you hear that Wolfe!

      • 1892 June 6 (date written), Charles Moore, quoting Francis D[avid] Millet, “The Chicago World’s Fair Marks the Beginnings of Civic Art in America”, in The Life and Times of Charles Follen McKim, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], published 1929, →OCLC, page 120:

        All these remarks are in strict confidence, and I write in this way to urge you [Charles Follen McKim] to be explicit and flat-footed in your wishes.

      • 1952, William T. Campbell, Big Beverage, Atlanta, Ga.: Tupper & Love, →OCLC, page 269:

        Proficient drinkers could spill out an ounce, or an ounce and a half, or two, from the neck of a Solo Soda bottle in the dark, measured to the very dram, refill it with corn whisky, turn it upside down with the thumb placed carefully over the bottle's lip—for a good mix, and luck—and drink it down, flatfooted.

Alternative forms

• flatfooted

Derived terms

• flat-footedly
• flat-footedness

Related terms

• flatfoot, flat-foot (noun, verb)

Translations

of an animal: having feet which are naturally flat

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: platvoetig
• Finnish: lattajalkainen (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: λειόπους (leiópous)

• Latin: plancus, plautus
• Russian: плоскосто́пный (ploskostópnyj)
• Tagalog: dalpak
• Ukrainian: плоскосто́пий (ploskostópyj)

of a person: having the physical condition of flat feet

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: lattajalkainen (fi)
• Latin: plancus
• Russian: плоскосто́пный (ploskostópnyj)
• Ukrainian: плоскосто́пий (ploskostópyj)

of a thing: having a flat base — see flat-bottomed

blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse — see blunt,‎ clumsy

unprepared, unready — see unprepared,‎ unready

direct, downright, straightforward — see direct,‎ straightforward

holding firmly to and maintaining a decision

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: vastberaden (nl)
• Finnish: päättäväinen (fi)

Etymology 2

From flat-foot +‎ -ed (suffix forming past tense forms of regular verbs).

Verb

flat-footed

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

Alternative forms

• flatfooted

Further reading

• flat feet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia