off one's guard
- idiom
:
desprevenido
- She was momentarily off her guard, which allowed her opponent to score a point.
Examples
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The question caught him off his guard, and he struggled to answer quickly.
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Don’t let yourself be off your guard when walking alone at night.
-
Don't be off your guard!
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He was off his guard during the meeting.
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She was momentarily off her guard, which allowed her opponent to score a point.
-
The question caught him off his guard, and he struggled to answer quickly.
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Don’t let yourself be off your guard when walking alone at night.
Synonyms
53
4.2
Not aware that someone might harm or trick you
51
4.2
Not ready or paying attention when something happens
29
4.1
Surprised and not ready for something that happens suddenly
14
1.0
A lack of attention that causes mistakes or harm
8
5.1
Not careful about what you say or do, so you reveal more than you want
6
6.1
A person who is not careful about danger and is easily tricked
3
4.9
Not ready or alert when something surprises you
1
5.9
You do not notice small details around you
1
5.7
Someone who does not pay attention and often causes mistakes or harm
Not ready and not paying attention when something surprises you
Not paying attention and not ready for surprise or danger
Not watching carefully for danger or problems
Not paying attention makes you miss danger or problems
Not careful in what you say or do
Not aware of danger or risk
Antonyms
How Alert
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'not paying attention/not prepared' follows directly from combining 'off' (away/not on) with 'one's guard' (one's watchfulness/protection), so the overall sense is a straightforward negation of being 'on guard'. This compositional pattern is common in English and parallels constructions in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Off one's guard comes from the image of a guard who is off duty or away from their watch, so no one is watching for danger. So, it means 'not paying attention' or 'not prepared' for something unexpected.