flat-footed

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.
   • [T]here have ben novv of late, Serpents knovvn flat-footed like Geeſe.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...
2. 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”).
   • [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.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...
   • 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.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...
3. (broadly) Of a thing (especially (rail transport) a rail): having a flat base; flat-bottomed.
   • 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.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
4. (figuratively) Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse; clumsy.
   • 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.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
   • 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.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...

   Synonyms:

   maladroit

5. (US, figuratively) Unprepared, unready.
   • They were caught flat-footed when Clancy filed to enter the race.
   • 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.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...
6. (dated, figuratively, informal) Direct, downright, straightforward; also, holding firmly to and maintaining a decision; standing one's ground.
   • 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!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
   • 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.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...