bumbling
adjective
bum·bling
ˈbəm-b(ə-)liŋ 
: awkwardly blundering or faltering
a bumbling speaker
: prone to or marked by foolish mistakes
a bumbling attempt to fix the problem
… many Americans see the F.D.A. as bumbling and inefficient …—
Herbert Burkholz
Herbert Burkholz
bumblingly
adverb
… none of them truly wants him in her home while he tries, bumblingly, to get his act together …
—Laura Collins-Hughes
Laura Collins-Hughes
Examples of bumbling in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
House, a Kiwi familiar from various Taika Waititi projects including the recent TV adaptation of Time Bandits, is a constance source of unexpected danger, while Hughes, George Mason and Matuse all get good moments as her variably bumbling henchmen.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 10 Mar. 2026
In a way, the bumbling early days of COVID are a good subject for a writer like Andrew Martin, whose characters are often trying to dig themselves out of some small interpersonal humiliation.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Off stage, Benedick and Beatrice spar their way toward the aisle, while our bumbling constables take center stage.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, 7 Mar. 2026
Reich plays this bumbling salesman version of himself that is distinctly not his Dropout persona.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bumbling
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Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 10 Mar. 2026
In a way, the bumbling early days of COVID are a good subject for a writer like Andrew Martin, whose characters are often trying to dig themselves out of some small interpersonal humiliation.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Off stage, Benedick and Beatrice spar their way toward the aisle, while our bumbling constables take center stage.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, 7 Mar. 2026
Reich plays this bumbling salesman version of himself that is distinctly not his Dropout persona.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bumbling
Cite this Entry
“Bumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bumbling. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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