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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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Example Sentences
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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
Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 9 June 2026
But then again, neither is the Bears fumbling and bumbling.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 2 June 2026
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
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
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
Trump said, fumbling for words.
—Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 9 June 2026
But then again, neither is the Bears fumbling and bumbling.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 2 June 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fumbling
Adjective
-
Still, the atmosphere was uncomfortable enough that Habermas left the institute a year later, to write his Habilitation, or second dissertation, a requirement for qualifying as a professor in German universities.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
-
Don’t suffer through summer in uncomfortable shoes.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
Instead, he was left with his tail between his legs and claimed that the Spurs actually dominated the series despite blowing leads in all four of their losses.—
Ryan Gaydos OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
-
Swift was also seen at the game blowing a kiss to the camera.—
Natasha Dye,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
Ben said that the saga began when his brother, Harry Dreyfuss, accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at a 2008 party in 2017.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Nov. 2025
-
One aide filed a police report accusing him of groping her breast, though a district attorney declined to prosecute.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Bryan’s stumbling responses, under questioning from the legendary defense lawyer Clarence Darrow, left him humiliated.—
Michael Luo,
New Yorker,
14 June 2026
-
Before smartphones and social media, tracking it down (or stumbling upon it) was like uncovering a local secret.—
Skye Sherman,
Southern Living,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
Paint Your Own Woodcraft The $7 Paint Your Own Woodcraft Kit offers a variety of wooden pieces to paint for a tray full of holiday cheer.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Dec. 2025
-
The Esquire Tavern The oldest bar on the River Walk also has the longest wooden bar top in Texas.—
Kat Stinson,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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In a Wednesday social media post published shortly after the release of May inflation data, Vance accused the Fed of bungling its job to balance price growth and unemployment through interest rates.—
Sylvan Lane,
The Hill,
11 June 2025
Verb
-
Mike and Samantha Tiburtini didn’t start looking until about a month after their son Ellis was born in May 2022.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
11 June 2026
-
Timothy Hawkins said the command was aware of reports and looking into the situation.—
Gianluca Mezzofiore,
CNN Money,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
Wallstedt was whistled for tripping on the play — the second penalty of his NHL career.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
7 Dec. 2025
-
In recent years, as robots have become increasingly sophisticated, their makers have gone from kicking them to shoving them, tripping them, and even hitting them with folding chairs.—
James Vincent,
Harpers Magazine,
23 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fumbling. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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