bungle

verb bun·gle \ ˈbəŋ-gəl \

|Updated on: 14 Aug 2018

Examples: bungle in a Sentence

Definition of bungle

bungled; bungling play \ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)liŋ\

intransitive verb

: to act or work clumsily and awkwardly

bungled badly in the campaign

transitive verb

: mishandle, botch

bungle a job

bungled the investigation

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bungle

noun

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bungler

play \-g(ə-)lər\ noun

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Examples of bungle in a Sentence

The government bungled badly in planning the campaign.
bungled the job the first time she tried to do it

Recent Examples of bungle from the Web

The lawyer also contacted the state’s attorney, who would eventually conclude that the officers bungled the case, and would order the department to assign two new, competent detectives to pursue a serious investigation of the crime.

— ruth padawer, New York Times, "Should Statutes of Limitations for Rape Be Abolished?," 19 June 2018
Two big foreign policy stories broke Tuesday night: U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley effectively said the White House bungled its announcement of new Russia sanctions.

— aaron blake, Washington Post, "The Nikki Haley mess, and what it says about the Trump-Kim Jong Un summit," 18 Apr. 2018
Managers too lazy to supervise or too cowardly to fire would dispatch to the copy desk anybody who had bungled every other assignment.

— john e. mcintyre, baltimoresun.com, "We owe a debt to Hank Glamann," 13 July 2018
Kilimnik wrote to Manafort in a December 2004 memo analyzing Russia’s bungled efforts to manipulate political events in former Soviet states.

— maria danilova, The Seattle Times, "Russian charged with Trump’s ex-campaign chief is key figure," 2 July 2018
This is unequivocal good news for D.C. Let’s not let the Beltway boors bungle this.

— jason gay, WSJ, "Champion Caps Shake Washington, D.C.," 8 June 2018
According to news reports, Asemani’s former patients filed multiple civil suits against him for botched dental procedures that ranged from removing three good teeth to a root canal bungled so badly that the patient bled for two weeks.

— mary carole mccauley, baltimoresun.com, "As he graduates from Wharton, this former Ellicott City resident reflects on overcoming tragedy," 10 May 2018
Indeed, the offseason still could turn out to be a failure if the team bungles the next several months.

— josh robbins, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Even with coach in place, Orlando Magic still have a lengthy offseason to-do list," 1 June 2018
But in order to qualify, people must also enroll in eligible repayment plans—a step that tens of thousands of otherwise eligible people bungled, disqualifying them from the program.

— michelle hackman, WSJ, "Education Department Announces Plan to Help Some Borrowers Seeking Loan Forgiveness," 23 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bungle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.