unwares

English

Etymology

From Old English unwæres, unwares, from unwær (“unware”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈwɛːz/

Adverb

unwares (comparative more unwares, superlative most unwares)

1. (now rare, archaic) Unexpectedly, suddenly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Still as he went, he craftie stales did lay / With cunning traines him to entrap vnwares.

Anagrams

• aunswer, sunwear, unswear