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
Baumgartner starred as the lovable and bumbling accountant Kevin Malone across the series run, for the first season as a recurring character but for the following eight in a starring role.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
That bumbling squad was 18th in offensive rating and 24th in defensive rating.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
Buffalo owner Terry Pegula made the Bills’ situation much, much worse with his rambling, bumbling, sometimes contradictory media session, taking wide receiver Keon Coleman to task publicly.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
The doctors and one particularly bumbling local detective suspect suicide, but Bundle can’t figure out why a man who seemed to be making plans for a long-term future would end his life.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bumbling
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Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
That bumbling squad was 18th in offensive rating and 24th in defensive rating.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
Buffalo owner Terry Pegula made the Bills’ situation much, much worse with his rambling, bumbling, sometimes contradictory media session, taking wide receiver Keon Coleman to task publicly.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
The doctors and one particularly bumbling local detective suspect suicide, but Bundle can’t figure out why a man who seemed to be making plans for a long-term future would end his life.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 Jan. 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 8 Feb. 2026.
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