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fumble 1 of 2

noun

Definition of fumblenext
as in mistake
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy played the entire piano piece without a single fumble

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

fumble

2 of 2

verb

ˈfəm-bəl How to pronounce fumble (audio)
1
as in to blow
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way her assistant fumbled the party plans by getting the time wrong on the invitations

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to grope
to search for something blindly or uncertainly the librarian fumbled for the light switch as she entered the dark room

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3
as in to stumble
to make a mistake just when it looked like he was going to get away with the ruse, he fumbled

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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 fumble
Noun
Two-way lineman Elijah Patmon had three sacks and forced two fumbles. — Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 10 Sep. 2026 Special teams contributed to Michigan's misery too, with Andrew Marsh losing a fumble on a punt return. — ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026
Verb
Olugbode fumbled in the second quarter but scored soon after. — Pj Green september 4, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2026 The company, which offers credit cards used to make rent and mortgage payments, had fumbled a critical transition, leading to confusion and financial stress for its customers. — Andy Kroll, ProPublica, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fumble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fumble
  1. mistake
  2. blow
  3. grope
  4. stumble
  5. blunder
  6. boot
  7. look
  8. trip
Noun
  • Well, his speed off the edge can cause a quarterback to make mistakes — the kind of game-changing mistakes from which the Chiefs did not benefit a year ago.
    — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2026
  • In a work so dense with references, mistakes will sprout like crabgrass; write a big book on André Le Nôtre’s formal gardens and the earthworm experts will gather to deride your confusion.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of mistake
Verb
  • Scott Schaunaman, a Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department spokesperson, said the contractor accidentally bored into a six-inch, high-pressure gas line from 150 feet away, blowing open a portion of 10th Street.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Fourteen of those storms originated in the East Pacific, which, with two and a half months of the season still to come, will likely blow past its average seasonal storm total of 15.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of blow
Verb
  • There’s always a fear of groping around in the dark; of not even knowing who to talk to.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Ibarra and an unspecified number of his friends reportedly groped a woman at the Buena Vista party.
    — Logan Smith, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of grope
Verb
  • But since then, Nosková has solidified while Sabalenka has stumbled, and the Czech has also gotten through some tough matches to reach this one.
    — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Byron Nelson stumbles again Normally an area power, Trophy Club Byron Nelson is off to a rocky start.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of stumble
Noun
  • There were mighty blunders off the field too under Jarmond, including an email that went out to donors that came with an attachment revealing personal information and spending tallies of the department’s biggest donors.
    — Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Common Mistakes When Cleaning Earbuds Take special care to avoid damaging your earbuds by avoiding these common blunders.
    — Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of blunder
Verb
  • On fourth-and-1 at the New England 45-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Lock faked a handoff, booted left and threaded a short pass through the arms of defensive tackle Milton Williams to Smith-Njigba, who took over from there.
    — Andrew Destin, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The one person who looks a bit skeptical about this is Yura Borisov (Ilya Sutskever), the OpenAI co-founder who led the charge to get Altman booted from the company.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of boot
Verb
  • The rest of her Emmys look was soft and sweet, with delicate pink shades on her cheeks and lips and a few strokes of liner and mascara to define her blue eyes.
    — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Wilson used amoeba looks with seven players crowding the line of scrimmage before some dropped into coverage on two third downs.
    — Dan Duggan, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of look
Verb
  • An older man to my right tripped and took a face-first dive across the pavement, glasses flying off his face.
    — Timothy Townsend, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Mizzou tripped Kansas 42-31 last season in Columbia, went 4-1 against the Jayhawks uninterrupted from 2007-11 at Arrowhead Stadium and also conquered KU 42-17 in 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of trip

Browse Nearby Words

fulsome
fumble
fumbled
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Cite this Entry

“Fumble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fumble. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fumble

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fumble

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