bungle

1 of 2

verb

bun·​gle ˈbəŋ-gəl 

bungled; bungling 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

bungle noun

bungler

ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)lər 

noun

bungler

2 of 2

noun

bun·​gler ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)lər 

plural -s

: a clumsy and awkward person

could not think with calmness of the possibility of appearing in the light of a bungler and an incompetent

—J. C. Kirkpatrick

muddleheaded bunglers

—C. W. M. Hart

Synonyms of bungle

Verb

• fumble
• blow
• botch
• ruin
• dub

Examples of bungle in a Sentence

Verb

The government bungled badly in planning the campaign.

bungled the job the first time she tried to do it

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

For now, the press still sometimes bungled his name as Harry. — Eric Moskowitz, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who polled at 5% in the CBS survey, accused Becerra of bungling the federal government’s response to COVID-19, mpox and the influx in child migrants under former President Joe Biden. — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2026

Authorities bungle the case but still arrest a maintenance worker for the killings. — Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026

Apollo’s acquisition came after Verizon Communications bought Yahoo’s online operations in 2017 and then bungled an attempt to blend those services into AOL, another internet pioneer. — Michael Liedtke, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Icelandic banga to hammer

First Known Use

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for bungle

• antifungal
• fungal
• jungle

Kids Definition

bungle

verb

bun·​gle ˈbəŋ-gəl 

bungled; bungling -g(ə-)liŋ 

: to act, do, make, or work badly

bungle a job

bungle noun

bungler

-g(ə-)ler 

noun