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 Drew Rasmussen squandered a two-run lead on the mound, Tampa Bay's bullpen let the game get away and the Rays stumbled to a 7-3 loss against the Cleveland Guardians in their American League Championship Series opener Monday night. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026 Kore-eda stumbled on the manga in a bookshop rather than through its serial run. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026 Jessica Koslow stumbled upon them at another shop, Virgil Normal, resulting in a collaboration with her restaurant Sqirl. — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 So why has Hyperliquid’s DAT flourished while the others have stumbled? — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026 Of the seven clubs that had 14 or more players from their organizations appear in the WBC, several stumbled early and only the Phillies and Brewers made the postseason. — Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026 Hernández stumbled through July and August before a swing fix sparked a September turnaround. — Beth Harris, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026 The Sooners stumbled out of the AP rankings in September, but their defense still boasts some future NFL players who could tighten up this matchup. — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 Colorado stumbled out of its Big 12 opener with a 23-13 loss to Baylor, dropping Coach Prime's Buffaloes to 2-2 and looking like (potentially) the worst team in the conference. — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbled

Verb

Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said the 430 trees that were felled were not identified as hazardous or raising safety concerns.

— Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026
Yet trees that took a millennium to grow can be felled in under an hour.

— Annika Hammerschlag, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of fell

Verb

While guys such as Will Smith and Chris Stratton were key during the 2024 playoff run, the Royals have struggled to hit on reliable veteran help.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 11 Oct. 2026
Halloran-Koren said Nicole struggled with drugs — as so many have in Kensington.

— Danny Freeman, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggled

Verb

However, Cam Skattebo fumbled to give Washington an opportunity.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
With Oregon outside linebacker Nasir Wyatt blitzing, Iamaleava attempted to throw the ball away to the flat and instead fumbled, giving the Ducks the ball on the Bruins’ one-yard-line.

— Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Up until tonight, Raman has done a good job of communicating a message of hope and change, while Bass, as the incumbent, has repeatedly tripped on her record over the biblically bad four years of her first term.

— Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
The truest sign that Joseph had tripped the Rams up with Hufanga’s blitz came by looking at Rams right guard Kevin Dotson.

— Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 2 Oct. 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

McColley pushed Parente out onto the street and stomped his boot in the victim’s face five times, crushing Parente’s head into the pavement before fleecing his pockets and fleeing, according to the criminal complaint.

— Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 13 Oct. 2026
Letter writers recalled how Paden saved his father’s life when a cow nearly stomped him to death in a field, after the elder Paden came between the cow and her calf.

— Glenn Rice, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of stomped

Verb

Amanda Peet did all of that too, starting in her late 30s because of dense breast tissue and prior benign lumps, and her stage 1 invasive lobular carcinoma still slipped past her first scan.

— Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026
These were aspirationally scheduled for no earlier than mid and late October, respectively, but have now apparently slipped to mid-to-late November (though there has been no public confirmation of any firm target date).

— Andrew Jones, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2026