Synonyms of stumbled

stumbled

verb

past tense of stumble

1

as in fell

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

• fell
• tripped
• slipped
• tumbled
• toppled
• collapsed
• skidded
• plopped
• slid
• plunged
• crumpled
• dropped
• crashed
• plunked
• plummeted
• keeled
• precipitated
• slumped (over)
• wiped out
• flumped
• nose-dived
• free-fell

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stood (up)
• rose
• got up
• uprose

2

as in struggled

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually

stumbled twice while she was reciting the "Gettysburg Address"

Synonyms & Similar Words

• struggled
• blundered
• trudged
• floundered
• shuffled
• limped
• lurched
• fumbled
• jogged
• bumbled
• plodded
• lumbered
• faltered
• swayed
• reeled
• shambled
• flogged
• staggered
• tottered
• wallowed
• teetered
• muddled
• weltered

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sailed
• flew
• glided
• coasted
• zoomed
• zipped
• kilted

3

as in shuffled

to move heavily or clumsily

the tipsy revelers left the path and wearily stumbled through the tangled undergrowth

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shuffled
• stomped
• lurched
• weaved
• barged
• trudged
• floundered
• shambled
• dragged
• stamped
• hauled
• tramped
• sloughed
• stumped
• pounded
• scuffled
• clumped
• lumped
• staggered
• scuffed
• plodded
• lumbered
• galumphed
• slogged
• flopped
• tromped
• swayed
• flogged
• blundered
• reeled
• waddled
• tottered
• careened
• wobbled
• teetered
• doddered

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slid
• glided
• whisked
• drifted
• floated
• hung
• waltzed
• coasted
• hovered
• breezed
• poised
• wafted

4

as in fumbled

to make a mistake

that network announcer rarely stumbles when he's on the air

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fumbled
• tripped
• blundered
• nodded
• erred
• slipped up
• flubbed
• mistook
• fluffed
• screwed up
• dropped the ball
• laid an egg
• misunderstood
• fouled up
• goofed (up)
• boobed
• mangled
• messed (up)
• loused up
• bungled
• murdered
• muffed
• misjudged
• botched
• butchered
• miscalculated
• bobbled
• misconceived
• misinterpreted
• misconstrued
• mishandled
• miscounted
• miscued
• foozled
• misgauged
• misdeemed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of stumbled

Then Sánchez’s eyes drifted up, his feet stumbled to a stop, and the ball bounced feet away from him on the turf. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

The 40-year-old woman stumbled, sustaining an injury, police said. — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026

Their disappearance was discovered only two hours later, when tourists stumbled upon two Antonello paintings, apparently abandoned by the assailants, leaning against the museum fence. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Vulcan has stumbled due to ongoing problems with the performance of its solid rocket boosters, which are provided by Northrop Grumman. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 17 Aug. 2026

Construction workers in Belgium stumbled upon a stash of gold believed to be worth more than $10 million during renovation work on a building. — CBS News, 15 Aug. 2026

Andropov died in 1984, and Gorbachev took more than a year to gain power while the Kremlin stumbled along under the caretaker regime of the grievously ill Konstantin Chernenko. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026

According to The New York Times, a detective within the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department who had been assigned to dig into the Shakur cold case stumbled upon Davis’ memoir and used it as evidence to build his case against him. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026

Advertisement But the test favored Claude by selecting cases where a researcher had already stumbled. — Harry Booth, Time, 7 Aug. 2026