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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in struggled
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
stumbled twice while she was reciting the "Gettysburg Address"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in fumbled
to make a mistake
that network announcer rarely stumbles when he's on the air
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stumbled
But even on a night where Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 31, no one was better than Dončić, who only stumbled when the Lakers tried to get him to 50 points.
—
Dan Woike, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Abdi stumbled, and only kept himself upright by leaning with both hands on his cane.
—David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
The Los Angeles Lakers stumbled out of the gate Tuesday night, falling 119-109 to their division rivals, the Golden State Warriors, in their season opener.
—Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Smith-Njigba jumped into blocking mode but was stiff-armed by Stingley as the two stumbled onto the Texans’ sideline.
—Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Luckily, four women from Ohio who had stumbled across the body while searching for a ghost town found Jane Doe roughly eight hours after the murder, Miller said.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
By contrast, the 93-69 Dodgers stumbled at times during the regular season, including several late-game collapses by a shaky bullpen and a humbling September sweep by the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.
—Becky Sullivan, NPR, 20 Oct. 2025
Angeletti first stumbled upon what would become the Curiosity Jewelers storefront by chance.
—Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence stumbled and fell to the turf, twice, appearing to be an easy tackle.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 13 Oct. 2025
Dan Woike, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Abdi stumbled, and only kept himself upright by leaning with both hands on his cane.
—David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
The Los Angeles Lakers stumbled out of the gate Tuesday night, falling 119-109 to their division rivals, the Golden State Warriors, in their season opener.
—Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Smith-Njigba jumped into blocking mode but was stiff-armed by Stingley as the two stumbled onto the Texans’ sideline.
—Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Luckily, four women from Ohio who had stumbled across the body while searching for a ghost town found Jane Doe roughly eight hours after the murder, Miller said.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
By contrast, the 93-69 Dodgers stumbled at times during the regular season, including several late-game collapses by a shaky bullpen and a humbling September sweep by the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.
—Becky Sullivan, NPR, 20 Oct. 2025
Angeletti first stumbled upon what would become the Curiosity Jewelers storefront by chance.
—Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence stumbled and fell to the turf, twice, appearing to be an easy tackle.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbled
Verb
-
The at-bats were brief and uneventful, the opposite of the approach that carried Toronto to this stage and felled Snell in Game 1.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
-
That says a lot about the 2025 Red Sox, who were a top offensive team in many metrics, but were also felled by their bats in crucial spots throughout the year and postseason.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Her sister struggled for years with substance use, leading their mother to assume custody of her sister's two children.—
Victoria Moorwood,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
26 Oct. 2025
-
After an effort to create a Falls of the Ohio national park fell short in 1967, Kentucky and Indiana officials struggled to stop the falls from becoming a garbage dump.—
Leo Bertucci,
Louisville Courier Journal,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The most interesting part about this week two lineup is seeing how the songs shuffled around a bit.—
Katie Atkinson,
Billboard,
21 Oct. 2025
-
The doctor grunted, shuffled off.—
Sam Lipsyte,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Onana then fumbled a low cross from the right by Yasin Ayari, with the ball falling to the feet of Georginio Rutter.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Last season, Daniels fumbled the ball twice in the last five minutes.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
On Canal Street on Thursday morning, lost tourists tripped over commuters hustling out of the subway, the grates on the souvenir stores went up, but most of the street vendors were still missing.—
Matthew Sedacca,
Curbed,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Prodded by a fan question about bloopers while reading a story on air, asked by Bravo host Andy Cohen, Daly recalled how working with a teleprompter and a big name like Leonardo DiCaprio tripped him up.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
At Stella McCartney, a pair of slouchy patent leather square-toe boots stomped down the catwalk.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Footwear News,
24 Oct. 2025
-
When Empower Field hosted the CONCACAF Nations League final between the United States and Mexico in 2021, the building stomped and shook like a Saturday at College Station, Texas, or Madison, Wis.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The apple-munching Euphoria actor slipped into Tilda Swinton’s plush period dress from the ravishing 1992 drama, joined by Jeff Goldblum, Wicked’s wizard himself, in sparkly Gucci.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Shares of Honeywell have slipped 4% this year.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
While news of that lifeline briefly triggered a sharp rally earlier this month, the peso has since given up those gains and has tumbled by more than 40% against the greenback so far this year.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Netflix tumbled more than 10% for the week after missing earnings expectations, hit by a $619 million tax charge in Brazil.—
Benzinga,
Freep.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumbled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumbled. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share