unwares

U1N1W4A1R1E1S1
UK/ʌnˈwɛːz/

adverb

Unexpectedly, suddenly.

OriginOld English unwæres →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

adverbunwares (not comparable)
  1. archaicnot comparableUnexpectedly, suddenly.

    Still as he went, he craftie stales did lay / With cunning traines him to entrap vnwares.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Origin

  1. Old Englishunwæres
  2. Englishunwares

From Old English unwæres, unwares, from unwær (“unware”).

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

sunwearunswear
Cite this entry
APA

unwares. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwares

MLA

“unwares.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwares. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unwares,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwares.

Source: unwares on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.