bungled

1 of 2

adjective

bun·​gled ˈbəŋ-gəld 

: badly done : unsuccessful because of mistakes : botched

a bungled robbery

a badly bungled attempt

bungled

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of bungle

Examples of bungled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Now 50 years old, Pike has faced an array of health problems, which her legal team had repeatedly warned could lead to a bungled execution. — Keri Blakinger, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2026

Instead of taking audiences through yet another mission, Hondo and the team are called before the Force Review Board to testify about a prior bungled assignment. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026

Still, for every resourceful, imaginative low-budget success, there is a bungled movie that aspires, if not to quality, then at least to financial viability, but instead achieves legendary ineptitude. — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026

But culturally, says Peter Der Manuelian, Barbara Bell professor of Egyptology at Harvard University, the bungled operation inspired an entire field. — Daisy Shaw-Ellis, Vanity Fair, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1619, in the meaning defined above