The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Flat-footed \Flat"-foot`ed\, a.
1. Having a flat foot, with little or no arch of the instep;
suffering from fallen arches. [WordNet sense 3]
[1913 Webster]
2. Firm-footed; determined. [Slang, U.S.]
[1913 Webster]
3. clumsy; amateurish; pedestrian; unimaginative; plodding;
as, flatfooted prose.
[PJC]
4. Without reservation; without evasion or compromise; firm;
as, a flat-footed refusal; a flatfooted denial. [WordNet
sense 4]
Syn: downright, forthright, foursquare, head-on,
straightforward.
[PJC]
5. With feet flat on the ground; not tiptoe. [WordNet sense
1]
[WordNet 1.5]
6. Unprepared and unable to react quickly; as, the new
product caught their competitors flat-footed. [WordNet
sense 2]
Syn: unready.
[WordNet 1.5]
To catch (one) flatfooted to catch (a person) unprepared;
to catch (a person) by surprise.
[PJC]