as in uncomfortable
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1
as in blowing
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 groping
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 stumbling
to make a mistake
just when it looked like he was going to get away with the ruse, he fumbled
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Recent Examples of fumbling
Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
No more fussing, fumbling, or making a mess of my counter.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 29 Apr. 2026
Gone is the fumbling little girl of before, replaced by a woman full of anger and ready to take her own life to prove her love.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026
The characters are precisely strange, interestingly fumbling, and share with Days and Nights’s protagonists an anxious impatience and confusion.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
That bond helped buoy Stevenson through hard days, which peaked with the return of a fumbling problem that dogged him last year.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
Signs of hypothermia in adults include shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness.
—Jarrod Wardwell, Houston Chronicle, 26 Jan. 2026
One-word answers litter the path toward your desperate, fumbling attempt to get away.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 1 Oct. 2025
No stars are required to dress up and parade for the cameras or to answer fumbling questions from the press; no juries haggle over prizes; and, above all, there is no obligation to observe the highly suspect principle that the latest thing is bound to be the best.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 May 2026
The whole series comes down to the Cavs fumbling away Game 1.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 24 May 2026
Gone will be the life complications of fumbling to attach a baggage tag to each of your suitcases at check-in.
—Miami Herald, 19 May 2026
That’s incredibly useful when navigating menus, asking for directions, or communicating abroad without fumbling through translation apps.
—Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 19 May 2026
Santillan appears to be fumbling away his opportunity, allowing nine runs (eight earned) over his last five appearances.
—Mike Barner, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
But Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace hit three-pointers while Smart was fumbling the ball and James and Hachimura were missing shots, while an Oklahoma City 8-0 run eventually gave them another 13-point lead that was never again challenged.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026
The result leaves nearly every performer fumbling for traction in Serkis and Stoller’s muddy-yet-gutless cinematic sty.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 30 Apr. 2026
There was an emotional honesty that embraced the idea that growth isn’t always linear (see Andie from The Devil Wears Prada, fumbling a relationship with a good guy because her career came first).
—Literary Hub, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
The fact that his fumbling journey toward fatherhood is not just tolerable but genuinely touching is a testament to the disarming earnestness with which Firstman approaches the clichéd set-up.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
No more fussing, fumbling, or making a mess of my counter.
—Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 29 Apr. 2026
Gone is the fumbling little girl of before, replaced by a woman full of anger and ready to take her own life to prove her love.
—Ellise Shafer, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026
The characters are precisely strange, interestingly fumbling, and share with Days and Nights’s protagonists an anxious impatience and confusion.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
That bond helped buoy Stevenson through hard days, which peaked with the return of a fumbling problem that dogged him last year.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
Signs of hypothermia in adults include shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness.
—Jarrod Wardwell, Houston Chronicle, 26 Jan. 2026
One-word answers litter the path toward your desperate, fumbling attempt to get away.
—Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 1 Oct. 2025
No stars are required to dress up and parade for the cameras or to answer fumbling questions from the press; no juries haggle over prizes; and, above all, there is no obligation to observe the highly suspect principle that the latest thing is bound to be the best.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
Like, for example, calling a risky trick play in South Bend that resulted in wide receiver Makai Lemon fumbling on first-and-10 from the Notre Dame 37-yard line down three points in the fourth quarter.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 May 2026
The whole series comes down to the Cavs fumbling away Game 1.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 24 May 2026
Gone will be the life complications of fumbling to attach a baggage tag to each of your suitcases at check-in.
—Miami Herald, 19 May 2026
That’s incredibly useful when navigating menus, asking for directions, or communicating abroad without fumbling through translation apps.
—Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 19 May 2026
Santillan appears to be fumbling away his opportunity, allowing nine runs (eight earned) over his last five appearances.
—Mike Barner, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
But Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace hit three-pointers while Smart was fumbling the ball and James and Hachimura were missing shots, while an Oklahoma City 8-0 run eventually gave them another 13-point lead that was never again challenged.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026
The result leaves nearly every performer fumbling for traction in Serkis and Stoller’s muddy-yet-gutless cinematic sty.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 30 Apr. 2026
There was an emotional honesty that embraced the idea that growth isn’t always linear (see Andie from The Devil Wears Prada, fumbling a relationship with a good guy because her career came first).
—Literary Hub, 24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fumbling
Adjective
-
Vinod brought the long view and the uncomfortable predictions.—
Brian Solis,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
-
Say goodbye to uncomfortable underwear that digs.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Not because the Dodgers’ reliever gave up three runs in the eighth inning to the Philadelphia Phillies, blowing a save opportunity and getting tagged with his first loss of the season.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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The plants store electricity generated by large solar and wind farms to release back on the power grid at night when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.—
Paul Rogers,
Mercury News,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Tajul Islam, 55, is accused of groping and molesting the victims inside Masjid Bilal Queens on Sutphin Blvd.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Jennifer Jackson, 39, was charged with felony counts of groping a 15-year-old girl and vandalism.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Coming shortly after Thierno Barry had put them 3-1 up, both Tarkowski and Keane switched off from kick-off to hand a stumbling City a lifeline.—
Patrick Boyland,
New York Times,
27 May 2026
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Villatoro — who previously held high-level positions at Mattel and Smashbox Cosmetics — remembered stumbling upon the brand at Sephora’s annual beauty event Sephoria long before she was brought on.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
22 May 2026
Adjective
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All three of them were shot in the head and beaten with a wooden baseball bat.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
29 May 2026
-
In parts of Central and Eastern Europe, people lie on wooden structures built directly above active hives to absorb the sound and vibration, a practice called apitherapy.—
Allison Palmer,
Miami Herald,
29 May 2026
Verb
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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who polled at 5% in the CBS survey, accused Becerra of bungling the federal government’s response to COVID-19, mpox and the influx in child migrants under former President Joe Biden.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
And Kash Patel's FBI seems to be bungling the investigation at every step.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The service was also facing the retirement of older, larger ships and was looking for ways to maintain its fleet size with smaller surface combatants that could be built more quickly and cheaply than bigger vessels, the report said.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
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Fueled by a successful investment, the government is looking for opportunities.—
Matthew Lynn,
Washington Post,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
The broadest of comedies, the film’s often puerile humor is driven by an endless stream of male bungling, blundering and whining, only to be kicked up a notch by pratfalls of nearly every variety, from getting bucked off a galloping horse to tripping into a pile of trash.—
Natalia Winkelman,
Variety,
27 May 2026
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Just the usual catching a skate blade or tripping over a tree root.—
Risa Jampel,
STAT,
22 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fumbling. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
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