2informalCLUMSY moving in an awkward way 拖着脚走的,蹒跚而行的SYN clumsy
The defence looked flat-footed as Sutton scored easily.
防守队员看上去行动迟缓,萨顿轻易射门得分。
3catch somebody flat-footedAmerican EnglishAmECATCH to surprise someone so that they cannot do something in the way they ought to 令某人猝不及防SYN catch somebody off guard
The president’s announcement seemed to catch Democrats flat-footed.
总统的声明似乎令民主党人猝不及防。
Examples from the Corpus
catch somebody flat-footed• The recentrecessioncaught managers flat-footed and unprepared.
Examples from the Corpus
flat-footed• A good way to see the land without getting bow-legged doing it, or flat-footed.• The last thing they would expect was the obvious, it was a certain way to catch them flat-footed.• My smile stays really charming as I stop forward and kick, flat-footed, against the edge of the door.• Leonard was flat-footed and slow during the match.• His toes were aching so much that he went upstairs very slowly, walking flat-footed to avoidbending his tingling ankles.