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

Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Starting in all 16 games for the first time since 2012, Smith had five sacks, 48 tackles and a fumble returned for a touchdown. — Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 16 June 2026 In a Week 14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith recovered a fumble and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown — the fifth-longest fumble return in franchise history. — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 June 2026
Verb
But in her concentration, Porsha fumbled her words, which made the Faithfuls, who were desperate for a crumb of evidence so early in the game, suspicious of her sincerity. — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 29 June 2026 With Yerry De los Santos also fumbling a bunt in the eighth, the Yanks tallied a season-high four errors on the night. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 June 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
  • Others don’t look great now — parting with Rosario for Eli Morgan almost immediately went wrong and losing Cruz in the Michael Soroka deal looks like a mistake.
    — Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • Continue reading … 'MASSIVE' — Hunter Biden blasts Merrick Garland's DOJ the 'greatest mistake' under Biden.
    — , FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of mistake
Verb
  • The night quickly blew open from there, a 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies that was uglier than the final score and further sank Sheehan’s season.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • As the final seconds ticked down on Spain’s 1-0 extra-time win over a valiant Argentina and the referee blew his whistle, one could be forgiven for their mind once again slipping to memories of La Roja’s maiden World Cup victory.
    — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
Definition of blow
Verb
  • Franken fake-groped a sleeping woman as a joke, and was then credibly accused of groping numerous women for real.
    — Katha Pollitt, Washington Post, 10 July 2026
  • But there’s a savvy 2026 vibe about the way the film refuses to create florid melodrama out of quotidian crisis, and instead observes with generosity as the characters grope awkwardly toward emotional détente and mutual forgiveness.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
Definition of grope
Verb
  • The first version stumbled spectacularly—employees persuaded it to stock novelty tungsten cubes and sell them at a loss—but later iterations became considerably more competent.
    — Victor Dey, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • But then our son stumbles into the room and burrows between us, his warmth radiating right alongside my light.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026
Definition of stumble
Noun
  • Nothing makes this part of the chase memorable or important enough to merit a flash-forward, which turns it into a deflating blunder in a series that can’t afford to slow down.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 15 July 2026
  • And while that may sound like little more than a comic blunder, these slips offer one of the clearest windows into how language is assembled in the mind.
    — Karen Stollznow, The Conversation, 14 July 2026
Definition of blunder
Verb
  • Players each have 30 seconds on a personal clock, so whoever takes the longest and runs out of time first — sometimes because Jacquis calls for detailed clarifications — gets booted.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 July 2026
  • The affair was a lopsided route booting the Spanish out of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of boot
Verb
  • Wall Street looked past geopolitics even as oil prices climbed on the back of lower-than-expected inflation figures that sent tech stocks higher.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 15 July 2026
  • In El Limón, responsible luxury has to do more than look good from a drone shot.
    — Rafael Peña, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
Definition of look
Verb
  • In March, Melissa Graybill, 52, watched her mother, who is 69, begin an arduous recovery journey after tripping while getting off a horse.
    — Erica Sloan, Washington Post, 14 July 2026
  • Most drug development campaigns only discover whether candidates trip this sensor late in the game, forcing drug developers to go back to the drawing board.
    — Brittany Trang, STAT, 14 July 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 21 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fumble

Nglish: Translation of fumble for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fumble

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