1
as in to fall
to go down from an upright position suddenly and involuntarily
the bride stumbled on the altar steps and landed smack in the arms of the minister
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to struggle
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
stumbled twice while she was reciting the "Gettysburg Address"
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3
as in to shuffle
to move heavily or clumsily
the tipsy revelers left the path and wearily stumbled through the tangled undergrowth
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4
as in to fumble
to make a mistake
that network announcer rarely stumbles when he's on the air
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1
as in mistake
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy
was his hurtful remark a regrettable stumble, or was it made with artful intention?
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stumble
George Yang, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on U.S. debt as investors worry about slower economic growth and higher inflationary pressures.
—Josh Boak and Fatima Hussein, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2025
Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2025
But the recent stock-market stumble, spearheaded by Tesla and other tech giants, serves as a wake-up call that building a balanced investment portfolio should be taken seriously, and revisited at least once a year, if not sooner.
—Russ Wiles, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stumble
Verb
Lune acts as the caretaker of the group, documenting their adventures in notes left for future expedition groups to stumble across.
—George Yang, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025
Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on U.S. debt as investors worry about slower economic growth and higher inflationary pressures.
—Josh Boak and Fatima Hussein, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2025
Noun
After last year’s stumble, Humana embarked on a $1 billion valuation-creation program, with the backing of Jeff Smith’s activist fund Starboard, and invested those savings in an improved Medicare Advantage offering that contained more benefits at competitive pricing.
—Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2025
But the recent stock-market stumble, spearheaded by Tesla and other tech giants, serves as a wake-up call that building a balanced investment portfolio should be taken seriously, and revisited at least once a year, if not sooner.
—Russ Wiles, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stumble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumble
Verb
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Rising bond yields Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds typically fall – and their prices rise - as investors flee stocks for the safe haven of Treasuries during economic slowdowns.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2025
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Devon believes Simone is under Michaela’s spell and tries to get her off the island, but may fall for the seduction of luxury herself.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
28 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In Trump's first term, Republicans often struggled to pass major legislation despite holding full control of government, and the party is likely fearing history repeating itself.—
Mohammed Soliman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Apr. 2025
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With Andrew Wiggins clearly limited by lower body injuries, Nikola Jović struggling to shoot returning from a hand injury and rookie center Kel’el Ware simply not ready to compete at this high of a level, Miami just couldn’t come close in the end.—
Anthony Slater,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Then, around 200 million years ago, Pangaea began splitting apart, a geological breakup that formed the Atlantic Ocean, and eastern North America shuffled toward its current position on the globe.—
Alexandra Witze,
JSTOR Daily,
24 Apr. 2025
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The Phillies can shuffle their rotation with the benefit of two upcoming off days.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Later in the first period, Theodore fumbled the puck into the skates of his teammate, Hertl, on their way out of the defensive zone, and Foligno added to Minnesota’s lead.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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Every moment spent fumbling with gear in those temperatures came at a cost—to fingers, batteries, and hard drives alike.—
Tony Bradley,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Justice Department lawyers contend FBI agents acted in good faith despite the mistake and shouldn't be second-guessed by the courts.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2025
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Maybe everything that follows is a cascade of mistakes stemming from this decision.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Barclays shares took a steep tumble as the White House kicked off its trade war on April 2, but recovered thereafter and remain up more than 10% in the year to date — in sharp contrast to Swiss giant UBS, whose U.S. foothold and domestic concerns have led to a hemorrhage in stock value.—
Jenni Reid,Ruxandra Iordache,
CNBC,
30 Apr. 2025
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With 2:57 to go, Josh Hart took a vicious tumble and Jalen Brunson hurt his right ankle.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The polls show Trump has slipped three percentage points in his approval rating from March to April.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Apr. 2025
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The only ranking where the track slips is the Official Singles Sales chart.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Verb
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And in the end, the untouched bread is stomped into the ground.—
Stephanie Gravalese,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
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Balor stomped Mysterio, seemingly signaling a forthcoming break-up of the two longtime partners.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumble. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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