wittingly or not
idiom
: whether one means to or not
Some parents, wittingly or not, don't spend enough time with their children.
Examples of wittingly or not in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Dudek got the job, wittingly or not, through an end-run around his bosses.
—
Eli Hager, ProPublica, 8 Sep. 2025
But, wittingly or not, the reclusive Figma cofounder has managed to put the foundation back in the headlines at the cusp of another historical moment in business history and wealth creation.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2025
Gangs control the area and police say many of the informal vendors on the sidewalks are part of the larger drug economy, wittingly or not.
—Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2023
The professionalization of the violent protests with the help from Americans—wittingly or not—changes the game in a major way, and could foretell troubles ahead for other nations where a Trumpist rejection of a democratic loss could come with dire consequences for democracy itself.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 9 Jan. 2023
But her case is yet another reminder of how cheating in endurance sports often involves running afoul of a banal bureaucracy, whether wittingly or not.
—Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Online, 27 Oct. 2022
Essentially there are little to no controls on tech from some 7000 American AI companies making their way to the Chinese military, wittingly or not.
—Roslyn Layton, Forbes, 23 Apr. 2022
The university offered no details about how anyone at the university had helped Singer, wittingly or not, create a side door into Stanford through the athletic department.
—New York Times, 27 Sep. 2021
Not everyone was thrilled by this, as TV station KHOU reported, although all had at some point signed up for the plans, wittingly or not.
—Will Englund, Anchorage Daily News, 3 July 2021
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Eli Hager, ProPublica, 8 Sep. 2025
But, wittingly or not, the reclusive Figma cofounder has managed to put the foundation back in the headlines at the cusp of another historical moment in business history and wealth creation.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2025
Gangs control the area and police say many of the informal vendors on the sidewalks are part of the larger drug economy, wittingly or not.
—Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2023
The professionalization of the violent protests with the help from Americans—wittingly or not—changes the game in a major way, and could foretell troubles ahead for other nations where a Trumpist rejection of a democratic loss could come with dire consequences for democracy itself.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 9 Jan. 2023
But her case is yet another reminder of how cheating in endurance sports often involves running afoul of a banal bureaucracy, whether wittingly or not.
—Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Online, 27 Oct. 2022
Essentially there are little to no controls on tech from some 7000 American AI companies making their way to the Chinese military, wittingly or not.
—Roslyn Layton, Forbes, 23 Apr. 2022
The university offered no details about how anyone at the university had helped Singer, wittingly or not, create a side door into Stanford through the athletic department.
—New York Times, 27 Sep. 2021
Not everyone was thrilled by this, as TV station KHOU reported, although all had at some point signed up for the plans, wittingly or not.
—Will Englund, Anchorage Daily News, 3 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Wittingly or not.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wittingly%20or%20not. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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