un·wit·ting

(ŭn-wĭt′ĭng)

adj.

1. Not knowing; unaware: an unwitting subject in an experiment.

2. Not intended; unintentional: an unwitting admission of guilt.

[Middle English : un-, not; see un-¹ + witting, present participle of witten, to know (from Old English witan; see weid- in Indo-European roots).]

un·wit′ting·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unwitting

(ʌnˈwɪtɪŋ)

adj (usually prenominal)

1. not knowing or conscious

2. not intentional; inadvertent

[Old English unwitende, from un-¹ + witting, present participle of witan to know; related to Old High German wizzan to know, Old Norse vita]

unˈwittingly adv

unˈwittingness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•wit•ting

(ʌnˈwɪt ɪŋ)

adj.

1. inadvertent; unintentional; accidental.

2. not knowing; unaware; unconscious.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English unwittende; see un-¹, wit², -ing²]

un•wit′ting•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	unwitting - not done with purpose or intent; "an unintended slight"; "an unintentional pun"; "the offense was unintentional"; "an unwitting mistake may be overlooked" unintentional, unplanned unintended - not deliberate
	2.	unwitting - not aware or knowing; "an unwitting subject in an experiment" incognizant, unaware - (often followed by `of') not aware; "seemed unaware of the scrutiny"; "unaware of the danger they were in"; "unaware of the newborn hope"; "the most unaware person I've known" witting - aware or knowing; "a witting tool of the Communists"
	3.	unwitting - unaware because of a lack of relevant information or knowledge; "he was completely ignorant of the circumstances"; "an unknowledgeable assistant"; "his rudeness was unwitting" unknowing, unknowledgeable, ignorant uninformed - not informed; lacking in knowledge or information; "the uninformed public"

unwitting

adjective

1. unintentional, involuntary, inadvertent, chance, accidental, unintended, unplanned, undesigned, unmeant It had been an unwitting blunder on his part.
unintentional intended, deliberate, intentional, meant, planned, designed

2. unknowing, innocent, unsuspecting, unconscious, unaware, ignorant We're unwitting victims of the system.
unknowing knowing, conscious, witting

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

unwitting

adjective

1. Not aware or informed:

ignorant, innocent, oblivious, unacquainted, unaware, unconscious, unenlightened, unfamiliar, uninformed, unknowing.

Idiom: in the dark.

2. Not intended:

inadvertent, undesigned, undevised, unintended, unintentional, unmeant, unplanned.

Translations

ignare

involontario

unwitting

[ʌnˈwɪtɪŋ] ADJ → involuntario
I was the unwitting cause → sin querer, yo fui la causa
an unwitting instrument of sth/sb → un instrumento involuntario de algo/algn

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unwitting

[ʌnˈwɪtɪŋ] adj [victim, accomplice] → sans le savoir
I became the unwitting instrument of that unscrupulous man → Je devins l'instrument sans le savoir de cet homme sans scrupules.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

unwitting

adj accomplice → unbewusst, unwissentlich; action also → unabsichtlich; victim → ahnungslos; involvement → unabsichtlich, unwissentlich; he was the unwitting cause of the argument → er war unbewusst die Ursache des Streits, er war, ohne es zu wissen, die Ursache des Streits

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unwitting

[ʌnˈwɪtɪŋ] adj (cause) → involontario/a; (victim) → inconsapevole; (insult) → non intenzionale, non voluto/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

TEIRESIAS I say thou livest with thy nearest kin In infamy, unwitting in thy shame.

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E'en had I known, no villainy 'twould prove: But all unwitting whither I went, I went-- To ruin; my destroyers knew it well, Wherefore, I pray you, sirs, in Heaven's name, Even as ye bade me quit my seat, defend me.

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"Of course," continued the unwitting Clare, "I should have been glad to know you to be descended exclusively from the long-suffering, dumb, unrecorded rank and file of the English nation, and not from the self-seeking few who made themselves powerful at the expense of the rest.

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"I hope no great sorrow ever will come to you, Anne," said Gilbert, who could not connect the idea of sorrow with the vivid, joyous creature beside him, unwitting that those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the deepest depths, and that the natures which enjoy most keenly are those which also suffer most sharply.

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Nalasu, in teaching him the whiff-whuff language, deliberately had gone into the intelligence of him; but Villa, unwitting of what she was doing, went into the heart of him, and into the heart of his heredity, touching the profoundest chords of ancient memories and making them respond.

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When Michael, not entirely unwitting of the snub of the man's lack of interest, stirred restlessly with a threat to depart, he had flung at him gruffly:

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John Barleycorn is with me because in all the unwitting days of my youth John Barleycorn was accessible, calling to me and inviting me on every corner and on every street between the corners.

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Then he talked harshly to the unwitting culprit, and in his voice there was nothing but godlike wrath.

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And then they go ahead and do it, unwitting that one of the weaknesses of the human mind is that the wish is parent to the thought.

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So, in the present instance, it turned out with all the eloquence of "Old Charley"; for, although he laboured earnestly in behalf of the suspected, yet it so happened, somehow or other, that every syllable he uttered of which the direct but unwitting tendency was not to exalt the speaker in the good opinion of his audience, had the effect to deepen the suspicion already attached to the individual whose cause he pleaded, and to arouse against him the fury of the mob.

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4) Away with me, a worthless wretch who slew Unwitting thee, my son, thy mother too.

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Once, and unwitting that he did so or that I saw, he laughed aloud, mockingly and defiantly, at the advancing storm.

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