as in mistake
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy
when she was told her information was wrong, she apologized for the flub and immediately corrected it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
added too much flour and flubbed the gravy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to stumble
to make a mistake
at some point in your training you're going to flub, so don't let it rattle you
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of flub
Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 15 Apr. 2025
Ahead, see all the highs, lows and hilarious flubs from the 2025 SAG Awards.
—Brendan Le, People.com, 24 Feb. 2025
Shania Russell, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Pop star Fergie, an actual professional singer, flubbed it.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flub
Noun
The Cuomo campaign’s matching funds flub comes after the ex-gov has in the past few days reeled from back-to-back public snafus.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 15 Apr. 2025
Ahead, see all the highs, lows and hilarious flubs from the 2025 SAG Awards.
—Brendan Le, People.com, 24 Feb. 2025
Verb
Watch the players flub the Wizard of Oz clue above.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Pop star Fergie, an actual professional singer, flubbed it.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flub
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flub
Noun
-
Playing in the first group, Wong birdied the second hole and made up for his lone mistake (a bogey on No. 3) with birdies at seven and 11 to maintain a slim lead.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
-
On one hand, speed always enables Chinese players to adapt faster and, if necessary, correct mistakes faster.—
Neil Winton,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
The stress of getting to your airport gate on time, coupled with the excitement of getting to your destination, can cause even the most seasoned of travelers to fumble at security checkpoints.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
17 May 2025
-
For example, if an officer sees someone swerving, fumbling with items, or clearly not paying attention to the road, the interior light might factor into a citation for reckless or inattentive driving.—
Tiffani Jackson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 May 2025
Verb
-
Still, many times, most seasoned and skilled leaders stumble from time to time.—
Phil Portman,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
-
Meanwhile, the only truly happy artist in Ira’s friend group — played to uproarious perfection by Stanley Tucci — isn’t even much of an artist at all but a shameless name-dropper who seems to stumble into constant success without even trying.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
9 May 2025
Noun
-
The show’s main blunder is that instead of unpacking the various angles of the mob bosses’ corruption, random side stories start popping up.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
15 May 2025
-
But the internal investigation promised by department leaders — a probe of what accounted for the delays and blunders — seemed to go nowhere.—
Christopher Goffard,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
Verb
-
Those cops do more than blow whistles and bark signals.—
Paul Solotaroff,
Rolling Stone,
11 May 2025
-
In addition, strong winds over desert areas could result in briefly lowered visibilities to well under a mile at times in blowing dust or blowing sand.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
11 May 2025
Verb
-
Pulliam saw the coyote emerge from the nearby woods and tried to distract it by throwing rocks, but tripped in the process.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
20 May 2025
-
The novelty of seeing string puppet rockers spin and levitate, often tripping and tumbling in stride to the delight of the audience, never gets old.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
17 May 2025
Noun
-
Garcia, who denies gang membership, had an immigration court order protecting him from deportation, which the administration acknowledged was an administrative error.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
15 May 2025
-
Betts grounded into a fielder’s choice and reached via an error on a should-have-been 6-3 putout.—
Benjamin Royer,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2025
Verb
-
Mahdi’s legal team filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday saying that the execution was botched.—
Viola Flowers,
NBC news,
9 May 2025
-
Critics say Guarino botched data analysis in the O'Keefe case as well.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flub.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flub. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share