Synonyms and Antonyms of fumbling
1
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
blowing, bobbling, boggling, bollixing (up), booting, botching, buggering (up), bumbling, bungling, butchering, dubbing, flubbing, fluffing, foozling, fouling up, goofing (up), lousing up, mangling, messing (up), mucking up, muffing, murdering, screwing up
blundering, gumming (up), muddling, piffling
blemishing, blighting, damaging, flawing, harming, hurting, impairing, injuring, marring, mutilating, ruining, spoiling, vitiating
destroying, wrecking
mishandling, mismanaging
ameliorating, bettering, enhancing, helping, improving, meliorating, rectifying, refining, reforming, remedying
doctoring, fixing, patching, reconditioning, renovating, repairing, revamping
2
to search for something blindly or uncertainly
- the librarian fumbled for the light switch as she entered the dark room
grabbling
casting about, hunting, looking, reaching, seeking (out)
capturing, clutching, corralling, getting, grabbing, nabbing, nailing, seizing, snatching
combing, digging (through), dredging, raking, ransacking, rifling, rummaging, scouring
3
to make a mistake
- just when it looked like he was going to get away with the ruse, he fumbled
blundering, boobing [British], erring, flubbing, fluffing, fouling up, goofing (up), lousing up, messing (up), screwing up, slipping up, stumbling, tripping
nodding
bobbling, botching, bungling, butchering, foozling, mangling, mishandling, muffing, murdering
miscalculating, misconceiving, miscounting, miscuing, misdeeming, misgauging (also misgaging), misjudging, mistaking
misconstruing, misinterpreting, misunderstanding
