flatfootedとは 意味・読み方・使い方

形容詞

flatfooted (comparative more flatfooted, superlative most flatfooted)

1. Having flat feet.
   • 2011, Peg Tittle -, Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason, →ISBN:

     Most small children are flatfooted.

2. Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse.
   • 1956, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages:

     If that is not a flatfooted disregard of what this committee said was bad taste, I do not know what it is.

   • 2010, Chris Lewit -, Tennis Technique Bible Volume One, →ISBN, page 20:

     I have many top ranked sectional and national level kids come to my program and I cannot even believe how flatfooted they are—not because they lack the talent—simply because no coach ever demanded the extra footwork effort from them.

   • 2010, Scott Aikin, Epistemology and the Regress Problem, →ISBN:

     This flatfooted sketch of how experience provides us with reasons has two nodes.

   • 2011, Emily W. Leider, Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood, →ISBN:

     It's contrived and flatfooted, and neither Loy nor Powell enjoyed making it, despite its bang-up finale: a free-for-all wedding featuring two brides (Margit and Irene), two grooms, a confused preacher, quite a few drunks from the bar next door, and a maximum of conmmotion -- all crammed into Charlie's tiny trailer in a Capra-esque crowd scene.

派生語

副詞

flatfooted (comparative more flatfooted, superlative most flatfooted)

1. Unprepared to respond; unready.

   They were caught flatfooted when Clancy filed to enter the race.

   • 2010, Tami Hoag, Deeper than the Dead, →ISBN:

     Caught mentally flatfooted, Anne couldn't think of a response.

   • 2011, David D. Corbett, Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50, →ISBN:

     No one should be caught flatfooted by the lengthening of middle age

   • 2014, Luke Patey, The New Kings of Crude, →ISBN:

     In contrast, as the crisis unfolded, India stood flatfooted, only reacting after the damage was done.

2. Putting the entire foot down at once, rather than landing on the heel or ball of the foot and then lowering the rest of the foot.
   • 1980, Peter Hellman, Avenue of the Righteous, page 82:

     "He claimed that Jews walk flatfooted like a camel— including me.

   • 1988, Carmen Tabije Andin, Teaching Physical Education in Philippine Schools, →ISBN, page 147:

     Hit take-off board flatfooted in a hard stamp; take-off feet under body with slight dip at knee.

3. With one's feet flat on the ground.
   • 2010, F. Paul Wilson, The Touch: Book III of the Adversary Cycle, →ISBN:

     The figure came up and squatted flatfooted on his haunches next to Patsy.

4. (of drinking) Without pausing between swallows.
   • 1952, William T. Campbell, Big Beverage, page 269:

     Proficient drinkers could spill out an ounce, or an ounce and a half, or two, from the neck of a Solo Soda bottle in the dark, measured to the very dram, refill it with corn whisky, turn it upside down with the thumb placed carefully over the bottle's lip— for a good mix, and luck— and drink it down, flatfooted.

動詞

flatfooted

1. simple past and past participle of flatfoot

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌflætˈfʊtɪd/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈflætˌfʊtəd/, /ˌflætˈfʊtəd/, [-ɾəd]

• 韻: (one pronunciation) -ʊtɪd
• ハイフネーション: flat-foot‧ed

語源 1

From flat (adjective) +‎ footed (adjective).

形容詞

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.

   • 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 Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 351:

     [T]here have ben novv of late, Serpents knovvn flat-footed like Geeſe.

   • 1699, William Dampier, chapter II, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part II (Mr. Dampier’s Voyages to the Bay of Campeachy), page 70:

     Pelicans are large flat-footed Fovvls, almoſt as big as Geeſe, and their Feathers in colour like them: […]

   • 1980, Peter Hellman, “Tree Number E-37: Sietske Postma and Family”, in Avenue of the Righteous, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum, →ISBN, page 82:

     He claimed that Jews walk flatfooted like a camel—including me.

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”).
   • 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, part II (At the Front), page 385:

     [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.

   • 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, W.A.: Brimstone Press, March 2012, →ISBN, section 1, page 199:

     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.

3. (by extension) Of a thing (especially (rail transport) a rail): having a flat base; flat-bottomed.
   • 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:

     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.

4. (figurative)
   1. Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse; clumsy.

      Synonym: maladroit

      • 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:

        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.

      • 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, →ISBN:

        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.

      • 2010, Chris Lewit, Tennis Technique Bible: The Essential Reference for Mastering World-class Strokes and Footwork, volume 1, [Manchester, Vt.]: Chris Lewit Tennis, →ISBN, page 20:

        I have many top ranked sectional and national level kids come to my program and I cannot even believe how flatfooted they are—not because they lack the talent—simply because no coach ever demanded the extra footwork effort from them.

      • 2012, Jesse J. Prinz, “Whence the Unity of Consciousness? Attentional Resonance”, in The Conscious Brain: How Attention Engenders Experience (Philosophy of Mind), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Metaphysical Puzzles of Consciousness), page 250:

        I can't experience your experiences. What special relation to two experiences in my head have that an experience in my head lacks with respect to an experience in yours? One flat-footed answer is that they are both mine.

      • 2017 March 21, Michiko Kakutani, “‘The Death of Expertise’ explores how ignorance became a virtue”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 April 2025:

        "The Death of Expertise" [by Tom Nichols, 2017] turns out to be an unexceptional book about an important subject. […] [I]t's more of a flat-footed compendium than an original work, pulling together examples from recent news stories while iterating arguments explored in more depth in books like Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason," Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason," Robert Hughes's "Culture of Complaint" and, of course, Richard Hofstadter's 1963 classic, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life."

      • 2019 April 11, Marcel Theroux, “Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan review – intelligent mischief”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 June 2025:

        […] [Ian] McEwan's narrator, […] explicitly sets out his world, overexplains the historical context and never turns down a chance to offer an essayistic digression. To my taste, this is a flat-footed way of doing sci-fi.

   2. (US) Unprepared, unready.

      They were caught flat-footed when Clancy filed to enter the race.

      • 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, page 12:

        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.

      • 2009, Tami Hoag, Deeper than the Dead, London: Orion Books, Orion Publishing Group, published 2010, →ISBN, page 244:

        Caught mentally flatfooted, Anne couldn't think of a response. She was guilty as charged. She didn't deserve to defend herself.

   3. (originally US, informal, dated) Direct, downright, straightforward; also, holding firmly to and maintaining a decision; standing one's ground.
      • 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:

        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!

      • 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, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], published 1929, →OCLC, page 120:

        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.

      • 1952, William T. Campbell, Big Beverage, Atlanta, Ga.: Tupper & Love, →OCLC, page 269:

        Proficient drinkers could spill out an ounce, or an ounce and a half, or two, from the neck of a Solo Soda bottle in the dark, measured to the very dram, refill it with corn whisky, turn it upside down with the thumb placed carefully over the bottle's lip—for a good mix, and luck—and drink it down, flatfooted.

別の表記

• flatfooted

派生語

• flat-footedly
• flat-footedness

関連する語

• flatfoot, flat-foot (noun, verb)

語源 2

From flat-foot +‎ -ed (suffix forming past tense forms of regular verbs).

動詞

flat-footed

1. simple past and past participle of flat-foot.

別の表記

• flatfooted

参照

Further reading

• flat feet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia