as in clumsy
showing or marked by a lack of skill and tact (as in dealing with a situation)
I refuse to let that bungling incompetent insult me again
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fumbling
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
bungled the job the first time she tried to do it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bungling
Adjective
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Imagine being cuddled by long-legged, clumsy poodles.—
Brian Mann,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2025 -
That’s — actually kind of genius, especially if the Poet was a clumsy fella who needed that kind of precautionary measure.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Bill Belichick’s daughter-in-law seems none too pleased with his girlfriend Jordon Hudson, shading the 24-year-old for her behavior during the Super Bowl winner’s awkward new CBS interview as former Patriots Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski defended Hudson.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2025
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The situation was made more awkward by the lack of support from anyone else at the table.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That was a reference to the botched Tonight Show transition at NBC where O’Brien, then the popular host of NBC’s Late Night, was promised The Tonight Show to stay at NBC.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
3 Mar. 2025
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Accidental reveal One Russian military blogger inadvertently revealed the extent of the Ukrainian advance during a botched effort to downplay the advance on Monday.—
David Axe,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Magazine Dreams certainly isn’t inept, and Bynum, who wrote as well as directed it, summons a devastatingly spare atmosphere that’s broken up with some arrestingly dreamlike compositions when Killian arrives at a show or competition.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
21 Mar. 2025
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While a passer-by might see no progress on the site and assume the builders are inept or lazy, they've simply been overpowered.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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But Elmer is equally incompetent there, too, robbing the wrong train, failing at safecracking, miscalculating explosives and getting ignobly killed by lawmen in an Oklahoma shootout in 1911.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2025
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However, problematic ones try to control every outcome, usually out of fear of failure or appearing incompetent.—
Sho Dewan,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bungling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bungling. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
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