wrong-foot

Verb

wrong-foot (third-person singular simple present wrong-foots, present participle wrong-footing, simple past and past participle wrong-footed)

1. To cause a competitor to move or put weight on the wrong foot, as by making an unexpected move.
   • Johnson hesitated with his back to goal and was dispossessed by Mulumbu, who instantly played Odemwingie through on goal. The Nigerian kept his composure to wrong-foot Reina.2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport
   1. (transitive) To play the ball in an unexpected direction, forcing (the opponent) to change direction suddenly.
2. (broadly, transitive) To catch (someone) off balance, off guard; to surprise.
   • The Swedish academy had defied bookies’ predictions and wrongfooted critics too many times in the past, and if there was one consensus in the run-up, it was that the prize would not go to Europe, where six of the last ten winners had come from.2023 October 5, Philip Oltermann, “Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
   • He is cast as a master of brinkmanship who uses shock and chaos to wrongfoot opponents before settling, in the end, for more sober outcomes.2025 February 5, “The Guardian view on Trump’s foreign policy: an alarming new order takes shape”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
3. (broadly, transitive) To place (someone) at a tactical disadvantage.