wrong-foot

See also: wrongfoot

English

Alternative forms

Verb

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

  1. (sports) To cause a competitor to move or put weight on the wrong foot, as by making an unexpected move.
    • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 26 February 2015:
      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.
    1. (transitive, tennis) To play the ball in an unexpected direction, forcing (the opponent) to change direction suddenly.
  2. (transitive, by extension) To catch (someone) off balance, off guard; to surprise.
    • 2023 October 5, Philip Oltermann, “Jon Fosse’s Nobel prize announces his overdue arrival on the global stage”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
      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.
    • 2025 February 5, “The Guardian view on Trump’s foreign policy: an alarming new order takes shape”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
      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.
  3. (transitive, by extension) To place (someone) at a tactical disadvantage.

See also

References

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