Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not suspicious; trusting.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not suspecting; unsuspicious; not imagining that any ill is designed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to lack of suspicion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not suspicious
  • adjective (often followed by `of') not knowing or expecting; not thinking likely

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Merchandise to be distributed in unsuspecting communities, for the purpose of breeding death and desolation.

    The Assassinated President 1865

  • It was that availability that led Ball to call an unsuspecting Rustamova into his office in January 2008, formally suspend her and have her escorted from the building.

    Leonora Rustamova: I taught my pupils to enjoy books – and got fired 2011

  • When they reached the neighbor's gate they halted and called the unsuspecting man out of his home.

    The Twin Hells; a thrilling narrative of life in the Kansas and Missouri penitentiaries John N. Reynolds

  • He and his two sons ran away from the click of a gun from the inside of a cabin when they were calling unsuspecting men and boys to the door and, finding them unarmed, hacking them to pieces with cleavers -- in order not to raise an alarm in that bloody night on the Pottawattomie.

    With Sabre and Scalpel. The Autobiography of a Soldier and Surgeon John Allan 1914

  • When they reached the neighbor's gate they halted and called the unsuspecting man out of his home.

    The Twin Hells 1890

  • It was that availability that led Ball to call an unsuspecting Rustamova into his office in January 2008, formally suspend her and have her escorted from the building.

    The Guardian World News Tracy McVeigh 2011

  • One of his favorite tactics is calling unsuspecting employees at a target company, indentifying CTC as a "research firm" -- which it is -- and then asking all kinds of juicy questions.

    ABC News: ABCNews 2010

  • Unfortunately, most incidents go unknown as the unsuspecting public continues to buy counterfeits unbeknownst to them.

    Shaister Miester Do Da 2009

  • How does it feel to have created a tool that makes it easy for drug dealers and prostitutes to connect with customers … or for salesmen to cold-call unsuspecting Americans while they are eating dinner?

    WiredPen 2009

  • Any schoolteacher who is 'unsuspecting' is clearly in the wrong job, or needs a great deal of retraining.

    Fraser Nelson MP Has a Certain Ring to It 2007

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