blindside
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Attack or hit on or from the side where the attacked person's view is obstructed.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blyndsydSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblaɪndsaɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitivefigurativeinformal
To catch off guard; to take by surprise.
transitive
To attack (a person) on his or her blind side.
Attack or hit on or from the side where the attacked person's view is obstructed
noun
automotive
A driver's field of blindness around an automobile; the side areas behind the driver.
figurative
A person's weak point.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To catch off guard; to take by surprise.
Used this way, blindside is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blindside
- “The economic downturn blindsided many investors.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.