unprovoked

adj

1. Happening without provocation.

   “Near-synonym: unmotivated”

   “an unprovoked attack”

   “A 22-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for fatally stabbing 22-year-old Tashan Daniel in an unprovoked attack at Hillingdon Underground station on September 24 2019.”

   “Three unprovoked stabbings across Manhattan Monday morning that left two men and one woman dead show how the criminal justice and mental health systems fail New Yorkers, the city’s mayor said.”

adv

1. Without provocation or motivation.

   “He attacked me, suddenly, unprovoked.”

   “'He said, "I won't bugger you"? Really?' 'Yes, really.' 'God. That is a bit suspicious; coming out unprovoked.'”

   “The supernatural are so destructive that they have to create conditions to enable the continuous infliction of mental and physical injuries on others unprovoked.”

   “So when one of our own flouts our laws to attack my house unprovoked—””

verb

1. (form-of, participle, past)simple past and past participle of unprovoke