Link Centre Dictionary

unwitting

un·wit·ting

US/ʌˈnwɪtɪŋ/ rare

adjective

1.

not intentional

  • “an unintended slight”
  • “an unintentional pun”
  • “the offense was unintentional”
  • “an unwitting mistake may be overlooked”
2.

not aware or knowing

  • “an unwitting subject in an experiment”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

lacking information or knowledge

  • “an unknowledgeable assistant”

Origin

From Middle English unwittinge, unwitand, from Old English unwitende (“unwitting; not knowing; unaware; unconscious”), from Proto-Germanic *unwitandz (“not knowing”), equivalent to un- + witting. Cognate with West Frisian ûnwittend, Dutch onwetend, German Low German unwetend, German unwissend and unwissentlich, Icelandic óvitandi.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.