How to Use off guard in a Sentence

off guard

phrase

• They were perhaps caught off guard that France fielded the majority of their stars in that meeting.
  — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 30 June 2026
• Within days, nearly every artist dropped out, with some claiming they were caught off guard by the partisan nature of the event.
  — Philip Wang, Time, 29 June 2026
• Trying to catch Cape Verde off guard, Messi curled a left-footed shot toward the upper right corner of the net.
  — Tim Rohan, NBC news, 4 July 2026
• This month’s announcement from CMS caught states off guard with a new definition of medical frailty.
  — ABC News, 29 June 2026
• The energy price spike ushered in by the Iran war left many Americans off guard as inflation remains persistent and higher costs ding consumer sentiment.
  — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 July 2026
• Sirens, horns, and shouts to evacuate rang out in the West Bottoms and along Southwest Boulevard all morning, but the speed of the flooding still caught everyone off guard.
  — Kansas City Public Library Staff, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026
• The moment visibly caught Duff off guard, prompting members of her security team to step forward briefly, though the singer quickly laughed it off and continued the performance without interruption.
  — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
• After the assemblies, longtime Colorado Democratic strategist Mike Dino told CBS Colorado that DeGette's name recognition and congressional seniority were significant advantages in the race, but that her poor showing caught him off guard.
  — Jesse Sarles, CBS News, 1 July 2026