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blun·der | \ ˈblən-dər 
\
\blundered; blundering\ ˈblən-d(ə-)riŋ \
\Definition of blunder
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to move unsteadily or confusedly
In their exhaustion they often blundered against each other …— Norman Mailer
2 : to make a mistake through stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness
blundered by not acting sooner
1 : to utter stupidly, confusedly, or thoughtlessly
blundered an apology
2 : to make a stupid, careless, or thoughtless mistake in
… blundering matters through ignorance …— Rafael Sabatini
blunder
nounDefinition of blunder (Entry 2 of 2)
: a gross error or mistake resulting usually from stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness
a costly tactical blunder
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Other Words from blunder
Verb
blunderer \ ˈblən-dər-ər \ noun
\ nounSynonyms for blunder
Synonyms: Verb
- boob
- [British],
- err,
- flub,
- fluff,
- foul up,
- fumble,
- goof (up),
- louse up,
- mess (up),
- screw up,
- slip up,
- stumble,
- trip
Synonyms: Noun
- bobble,
- boo-boo,
- boob
- [British],
- brick,
- clanger
- [British],
- clinker,
- error,
- fault,
- flub,
- fluff,
- fumble,
- gaff,
- gaffe,
- goof,
- inaccuracy,
- lapse,
- miscue,
- misstep,
- mistake,
- oversight,
- screwup,
- slip,
- slipup,
- stumble,
- trip
Examples of blunder in a Sentence
Verb
We blundered along through the woods until we finally found the trail.
Another skier blundered into his path.
The government blundered by not acting sooner. Noun
The accident was the result of a series of blunders.
fixed a minor blunder in the advertising flyer
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Yearling black bears blunder over the asphalt in search of their own territories.
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Ben Goldfarb, The Atlantic, "The Pandemic-Driven Rise in Animals Crossing," 6 July 2020 Some pointed to other calls Goldman strategists blundered in the past, while others said Wall Street banks were too slow to catch onto the trend.
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Vildana Hajric, Bloomberg.com, "Bitcoiners Go Wild After Goldman Revives Tulip Mania Comparison," 27 May 2020 Performing slightly effeminate blundering outrage — not playing gay, exactly, but not not gay either — Lynde set a pattern.
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James Hibberd, EW.com, "The mad, sad, totally fab life of Paul Lynde," 19 May 2020 Every day is a new fragment of an endless blundering present, and tomorrow will be both different and the same.
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David Roth, The New Republic, "Trump Finds His Own Dumb Endless War," 16 Apr. 2020 And the coup de grâce: The dispute was largely over whether the de Blasio administration blundered by bypassing Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants and a paragon to many Italian-Americans, with a statue.
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Jeffery C. Mays, New York Times, "Actor Charged Racism Over Statue. N.Y. Politics Took It From There.," 11 Oct. 2019 Unlike the country’s first testing crisis, which was defined by a needless struggle between federal agencies and a pattern of blundering from the White House, fault for the new testing problem resides largely in the private sector.
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Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, "Private Labs Are Fueling a New Coronavirus Testing Crisis," 31 Mar. 2020 Yet Goodell insists on blundering on, as though nothing is more important than getting the NFL Draft on television.
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Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, "Coronavirus be damned, Roger Goodell says the NFL Draft must go on," 30 Mar. 2020 Here is a headstrong 78-year-old billionaire known to blunder at times under even gentle media questioning.
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Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times, "Michael Bloomberg Has to Debate Without a Net," 11 Mar. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Have Democratic politicians made a strategic blunder in not putting more distance between themselves and violent protesters?
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James Freeman, WSJ, "Maybe Voters Don’t Like Violence After All," 30 July 2020 Hits and Misses of the Week Think of it as Xi Jinping’s Himalayan blunder.
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Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, "What Beijing Lost With Its Border Clash Blunder," 9 July 2020 In total, Bonilla will walk away with a $29.8 million payday because of Wilpon's blunder.
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Allen Kim, CNN, "He hasn't played in MLB in nearly two decades. One team is paying him $1.2 million a year until 2035," 1 July 2020 Prosecutors have since apologized for the blunder and said Williams could have his case and fingerprint data expunged.
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Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, "Facebook faces ad boycott blues," 25 June 2020 Two types of empathy can prevent that relationship blunder.
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Kristen Rogers, CNN, "Empathy is both a trait and a skill. Here's how to strengthen it," 24 June 2020 The only blunder was taking three putts from 3 feet that led to double bogey.
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Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, "How to watch Charles Schwab Challenge 3rd round live stream: TV info, tee times for The Colonial," 13 June 2020 In fact, Bennet's tenure has been marked by a series of high-profile blunders.
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Oliver Darcy, CNN, "New York Times says controversial Tom Cotton op-ed did not meet its standards," 4 June 2020 After 9/11, Congress went through an extensive study of the blunders and missed opportunities behind our failure to stop the attacks.
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Pradheep J. Shanker, National Review, "COVID-19 and the Need to Hear Out Devil’s Advocates," 28 Apr. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blunder.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for blunder
blunder
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of blunder
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to move in an awkward or confused way
: to make a stupid or careless mistake
blunder
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of blunder (Entry 2 of 2)
: a bad mistake made because of stupidity or carelessness
See the full definition for blunder in the English Language Learners Dictionary
blunder
verbblun·der | \ ˈblən-dər \
\blundered; blundering
Kids Definition of blunder
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to move in a clumsy way
2 : to make a mistake
blunder
nounKids Definition of blunder (Entry 2 of 2)
: a bad or stupid mistake
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Time Traveler for blunder
The first known use of blunder was in the 14th century
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