unprovoked

adjective

un·​pro·​voked ˌən-prə-ˈvōkt 

: occurring without any identifiable cause or justification : not provoked

an unprovoked assault/attack

unprovoked anger

Examples of unprovoked in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The adults are also more dangerous to humans than most shark species, though unprovoked fatal bites are rare. — ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026

Last year, there were only 65 unprovoked shark bites across the entire world. — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026

According to the Florida Museum’s International Shark File, there were a total of 21 unprovoked shark bites in Australia last year, five of which were fatal. — David Chiu, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026

After such traumatic, unprovoked attacks, Iraqi Kurdistan would doubtlessly welcome any opportunity to acquire air defenses for self-protection. — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unprovoked

• choked
• cloaked
• coked
• croaked
• joked
• poked
• smoked
• soaked
• stoked
• stroked
• yoked
• convoked