STUMBLED Synonyms: 124 Similar and Opposite Words

stumbled

verb

past tense of stumble

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in struggled

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually stumbled twice while she was reciting the "Gettysburg Address"

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shuffled

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

as in fumbled

to make a mistake that network announcer rarely stumbles when he's on the air

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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 Fresh from lifting the FIFA Club World Cup and buoyed by optimism around Enzo Maresca’s project, the Blues stumbled to a disappointing 10th-place Premier League finish. — Graham Ruthven, New York Times, 31 July 2026 The Curiosity rover stumbled on the polygon field while ascending the foothills of a three-mile-high mountain called Mount Sharp, where it’s been roaming since 2014. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 30 July 2026 Though, as far as first impressions go in this conference, Chesney certainly had a leg up on his predecessor, who stumbled through his own opening address two years ago. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026 Video from a neighbor’s security camera reportedly showed that Medina walked up and shoved Cox, who stumbled off the sidewalk and fell into the street, hitting the back of her head. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 30 July 2026 Bellono and his colleagues, who published their work today in Current Biology, stumbled upon this evolutionary innovation by accident. — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 29 July 2026 The story is compelling as ever and a reminder that Xbox stumbled onto some real magic back in 2001. — Mitch Wallace, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026 Lundgren got out from the driver’s side of the vehicle, stumbled across the opposing lane of traffic, and leaped over the side of the bridge into Table Rock Lake below, the sheriff said. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 22 July 2026 The little wheeled robot stumbled across rounded pebbles — strong evidence that they had been exposed to flowing water. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 20 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbled

Verb

But the traps that felled Starmer lurk in most issues Burnham must tackle.

— Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
Spain came into the game unbeaten in 36 games and took the lead from the penalty spot when Lucas Digne swung a leg without looking and felled Lamine Yamal.

— Jack Lang, New York Times, 14 July 2026

Definition of fell

Verb

The 17 passengers and crew who lived told investigators everyone survived the landing, but many passengers struggled to locate life vests and the crew had a difficult time pulling out life rafts.

— Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 22 July 2026
Brayden Burries, Bucks While most of the vaunted crop of rookie guards from the NCAA ranks struggled, Burries was a glaring exception.

— John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 July 2026

Definition of struggled

Verb

The Playoff remains parked at 12 teams, and some G6 conferences shuffled teams, now including North Dakota State and Sacramento State.

— Jason Kirk, New York Times, 31 July 2026
Black voters were shuffled around Houston, with much of the previous 9th Congressional District becoming the new 18th District.

— Rahul Mukherjee, NPR, 23 July 2026

Definition of shuffled

Verb

The Giants scored the game’s first run in the top of the third when Mariners center fielder Luke Raley fumbled the ball on Bryce Eldridge’s single with runners on first and second.

— Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 19 July 2026
Basabe, 48, fumbled his way through the trial, often seeming confused about the legal proceedings.

— Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Brooks, who is recovering from back-to-back ACL injuries, took a kick return rep midway through practice and seemingly tripped with his momentum taking him head-first into rookie linebacker Jackson Kuwatch’s ankles.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 29 July 2026
The footage alone cannot tell us whether the robot tripped or lost balance.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026

Definition of tripped

Verb

Rubio is the president’s top adviser on both national security and diplomacy at a moment when the United States has blundered into an unpopular war that appears to be a strategic catastrophe.

— David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
Padres fielders blundered in three of his outings.

— Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026

Definition of blundered

Verb

Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football team, including several coaches, face charges after a player was allegedly stomped with cleats, and jabbed in the buttocks with a broomstick.

— Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
Cece got out of bed, put on a pair of fuzzy pink slippers, and stomped to her mother’s office.

— Jessica Contrera, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

Definition of stomped

Verb

Getty Images The MLB best home run bets slipped to an 18-65 record, with three no-bets after two misses on home run props for Chase DeLauter and Julio Rodriguez on Wednesday.

— Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Miami, which lost 12 straight prior to sweeping Philadelphia this week, slipped 2 1/2 games behind the idle Phillies and Arizona, who occupy the final two NL playoff spots.

— CBS New York Team, CBS News, 31 July 2026