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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Robyn Koslowitz, Parents, 19 Sep. 2025
Undefeated with a record of 7-0, Ukah stumbled into MMA almost by accident.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Ted Johnson, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
The vice president blamed traveling for his May debate stumble.
—Stylecaster Editors, StyleCaster, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stumble
Verb
Even young kids can stumble on these images and videos, especially when something’s trending, or when multiple copies of a video are bombarding the feed, overriding even the most stringent parental controls.
—Robyn Koslowitz, Parents, 19 Sep. 2025
Undefeated with a record of 7-0, Ukah stumbled into MMA almost by accident.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Noun
That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
The vice president blamed traveling for his May debate stumble.
—Stylecaster Editors, StyleCaster, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stumble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumble
Verb
-
Short sellers look to benefit from a company's falling share price by borrowing its stock to sell on the open market, then later buying it back at a lower price.—
,
CNBC,
22 Sep. 2025
-
One tree fell and a branch cut through their roof, stopping just above their bed.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In addition to market volatility, Generation X is struggling with inflation.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Hudson’s daughter, Ricky (Perry Mattfield), who works as an assistant coach, is a former track star who lost her confidence after an injury and now struggles to get the other Catfish coaches (including her dad) to take her seriously.—
Kristen Baldwin,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Companies react with token fixes, making small austerity cuts, shuffling around leadership, and rebranding business units.—
Daniel Schmeltz,
Fortune,
22 Sep. 2025
-
One member of the group, Joel Wenhardt, from Southern California, shuffled to the piano and flopped down on the bench.—
Jane Bua,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Even the Chargers special teams had slipped up, as returner Derius Davis fumbled a kickoff return in the third quarter that led directly to 3 Broncos points.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Wide receiver Ladd McConkey returned the final two punts in relief of Davis, who fumbled on a third-quarter kickoff return that set up Lutz’s 42-yard field goal.—
Elliott Teaford,
Oc Register,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Learn from the loss, correct the mistakes and move forward.—
Jim Alexander,
Oc Register,
23 Sep. 2025
-
Even his mistake for Damsgaard’s opener brought more of a stunned silence than exasperated groans or impulsive anger from the locals.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Though Bellinger was eventually called out on spectator interference rather than the catch itself, Martin’s fearless tumble over the wall stood out on a day in which the Twins shut out the Yankees (83-67) for the first time since 2008.—
Betsy Helfand,
Twin Cities,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Jobs took a separate big tumble on September 5 when the jobs numbers for August came out.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The junior wideout slipped loose into the secondary, breaking free for a 51-yard touchdown reception as the Harbormen cut things to a 21-13 game.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
20 Sep. 2025
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Conducted over the course of several months, a Microsoft postmortem on the Storm-0558 attack revealed several errors that led to the Chinese group slipping past cloud defenses.—
Kevin Purdy,
ArsTechnica,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Norwegian stomping clear of a defence caught too high up the pitch.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
-
At Harris Reed, platform Herman Munster shoes stomped and even tripped on the runway.—
Hanna McNeila,
Footwear News,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumble. Accessed 27 Sep. 2025.
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