catch sb napping
informalIf someone is caught napping, something happens to that person that they are not prepared for:
The goalkeeper was caught napping and the ball went straight in.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Surprising and shocking
- a blinding flash idiom
- a bolt from/out of the blue idiom
- amaze
- amazing
- astonish
- bolt
- breath
- earth-shattering
- expectation
- eye-opener
- faze
- flabbergast
- revelation
- staggering
- startle
- startling
- sting
- stunning
- stupefy
- thunderbolt
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