1
as in fumbling
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
added too much flour and flubbed the gravy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stumbling
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
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Recent Examples of flubbing
Filmmaking is flubbing the catch, and sometimes knowing the fool that's to blame is yourself.
—
Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
David Jiricek made what could have been a costly turnover in his own zone in the first period, flubbing a touch-pass into his own slot, but Robert Thomas couldn’t convert as Gustavsson steered him aside.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
David Jiricek made what could have been a costly turnover in his own zone in the first period, flubbing a touch-pass into his own slot, but Robert Thomas couldn’t convert as Gustavsson steered him aside.
—Michael Russo, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flubbing
Verb
-
The image of Gobert fumbling with the ball and having his shot attempt rim out has been a lasting one.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Georgia Tech also went 3 of 6, fumbling at the BYU 11-yard line in the third quarter and having a 35-yard field goal by Aidan Birr blocked late in the quarter.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
29 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The Packers are stumbling coming into the playoff with four straight losses, two of them via absolute giveaways.—
Hank Gola,
New York Daily News,
9 Jan. 2026
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Government agencies and businesses that invest in this training, and that insist every critical number survives a deterministic check, will capture AI's benefits without stumbling into its blind spots.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
12 Jan. 2026
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Somehow, this new sensation emitted an awareness of the magnitude in which skateboarding would warp my life, which only ratcheted up the anxiety of blowing it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Early in the third period, Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov was checking with his stick instead of his body when he was called for tripping former Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
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The police footage shows the man turning and bolting away from officers before quickly tripping over his own feet just a few steps past his car.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The episode ends with Hegseth botching the Peter Thiel extraction and ending up in jail himself right alongside Thiel.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
27 Nov. 2025
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But Team Blue ultimately squanders their lead, completely botching the puzzle as the other two tribes smoke theirs.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flubbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flubbing. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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