as in to encounter
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face
stumbled upon an old acquaintance at the airport
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumble (upon)
Verb
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And yes, any one person who does it might not be encountered often, but the older person may encounter it multiple times (from different people) in the same week.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026 -
The department has encountered legal challenges to the firings.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Jokic secured his eligibility for the accolade by playing his 65th game on the last night of the regular season, narrowly meeting the NBA’s quota to appear on awards ballots.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
20 Apr. 2026
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Sam Nunberg, an early campaign aide, met Trump at a wrestling match.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Stumble (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumble%20%28upon%29. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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