unwittingly

Etymology

unwitting + -ly.

adv

1. In an unwitting manner; inadvertently, obliviously, unintentionally, unknowingly.
   She realized to her horror that she had unwittingly helped those people she most despised.
   [O]nly now it remained that I inquire whether I have right to enter the city of refuge: so I found, that he must not, who lay in wait to shed blood: It was not the wilful murderer, but he who unwittingly did it, he who did it unawares; not out of spite, or grudge, or malice, he that shed it unwittingly: even he who did not hate his neighbour before. Wherefore, […] I thought verily I was the man that must enter, because I had smitten my neighbour unwittingly, and hated Him not aforetime. 1666, John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:[…], London: Printed by George Larkin, →OCLC; republished as Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners in a Faithful Account of the Life and Death of John Bunyan:[…], London: The Religious Tract Society,[…], [1905], →OCLC, paragraphs 218–219, page 123
   I have had a deep sense of the sad consequences of mistakes, in things capital; and their impossibility of recovering when compleated; and what grief of heart it brings to a tender conscience, to have been unwittingly encouraging of the sufferings of the innocent. 1697, John Hale, “The Preface”, in A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft,[…], Boston, Mass.: Printed by B[artholomew] Green, and J[ohn] Allen, for Benjamin Eliot[…], published 1702, →OCLC, page 11; reprinted in “Memoir of the Rev. John Hale”, in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, volume VII (Third Series), Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, 1838, →OCLC, page 264
   Of course those ministers who did support this did so unwittingly in most instances, did they not? By unwittingly I mean not knowing that the whole program was controlled and dominated and instigated by the Communist Party. 27 June 1955, Gordon H[arry] Scherer (questioner), “Testimony of Mrs. Anita Bell Schneider”, in Investigation of Communist Activities in the Los Angeles, Calif., Area—Part 1: Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, First Session, June 27 and 28, 1955: […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 1507
   In the fall of 2016, [Hugh] Hefner was the subject of rumors about his health. As per his wishes, he was to be buried in a crypt next to that of Marilyn Monroe, who'd unwittingly helped launch Playboy into the multi-million-dollar business it became. 27 September 2017, David Browne, “Hugh Hefner, ‘Playboy’ Founder, Dead at 91: Legendary Magazine Editor Helped Spark the Sexual Revolution”, in Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 2018-03-15
   "She had asked at Paddington for a return to Lympstone on the Exmouth branch, where her son was due to pass out as a Royal Marine that afternoon, at the local training camp. "Presumably, the booking clerk had misheard her and sold her a ticket to Leominster, and other helpful staff had unwittingly helped her on her way. July 13 2022, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71