How to Use unprovoked in a Sentence

unprovoked

adjective
  • Metro sources said the attack appeared to have been unprovoked.
    — Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2024
  • Cops said the attack was unprovoked.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Both victims relied on the the train or bus, and were killed in an unprovoked attack.
    — Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2024
  • There’s a fear of getting on the train because there’s been a rash of unprovoked attacks.
    — Diana Budds, Curbed, 23 Mar. 2021
  • The state accounted for five unprovoked attacks last year, the file says.
    — Erick Mendoza, NBC News, 10 Apr. 2023
  • Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.
    — Reuters, CNN, 6 Dec. 2022
  • In general, unprovoked shark bites have decreased over the past decade.
    — Jennifer Earl, CBS News, 5 July 2023
  • Putin launched an unprovoked, brutal invasion more than three years ago.
    — Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill, 17 Aug. 2025
  • Out of fear, the victim did not report the unprovoked attacks, the filing said.
    — John Caniglia, cleveland, 25 May 2021
  • The victim said in a police report that the attack was unprovoked.
    — Steven Martinez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 Jan. 2018
  • But Dominguez said Smith pepper-sprayed his client in an unprovoked attack.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 26 June 2025
  • On one of these drives, my mother mentioned Dylan unprovoked for the first and only time.
    — Sam Sussman, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2021
  • Activists said in interviews that the displays of force by deputies during the protests were unprovoked.
    — Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2021
  • Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an unprovoked land grab.
    — Reuters, CNN, 10 July 2022
  • Residents said Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas in an unprovoked attack.
    — Toqa Ezzidin, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2026
  • Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
    — Fox News, 8 May 2022
  • This is not the first time Russian media has been hacked since the country waged an unprovoked war in Ukraine.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 9 June 2022
  • Authorities say the two men did not appear to know each other, and have called the shooting unprovoked.
    — Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 3 Nov. 2023
  • The sight upset Obermeyer, who believed the use of force was unprovoked.
    — Kristine Phillips, USA TODAY, 26 Aug. 2020
  • The victims are approached by one or more members of the group who then, unprovoked, strike the unknown victim with open hand or closed fist.
    — Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
  • And so this attack was totally unprovoked.
    — Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
  • That includes a 16-year-old boy stabbed in the stomach in an unprovoked attack on a bus in Queens.
    — Elijah Westbrook, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
  • An unhinged man slashed three strangers in a string of unprovoked attacks that began on a Queens train, cops and police sources said.
    — Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 22 June 2024
  • Last month, seven dogs mauled a 71-year-old man to death in an unprovoked attack in Texas, police said.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2022
  • Video of the attack shows a man approach the vehicle and open fire on the two officers in an unprovoked attack.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 14 Sep. 2020
  • The attack was completely unprovoked, cops said.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2026
  • San Diego police said the attack on Cao appeared to be random and unprovoked.
    — David Hernandez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2023
  • The suspect then walked up to Navarro and, unprovoked, brought the hammer down on his head, witnesses said.
    — Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, OregonLive.com, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Also on the rise are unprovoked attacks, with five occurring in a 10-day stint in May.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 13 July 2024
  • The July 10 clash is the latest in a series of unprovoked stranger attacks to hit the city, cops said.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 20 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unprovoked.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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