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 Some stopped during their lunch break, while others stumbled across the competition by chance. — ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026 Advertisement But the test favored Claude by selecting cases where a researcher had already stumbled. — Harry Booth, Time, 7 Aug. 2026 She was accepted into Stanford University’s doctoral program after graduating with honors from Bryn Mawr College, but stumbled into a long career as a newswoman. — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2026 Basin stumbled backward over two beach chairs and fell to the sand. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2026 Last year’s Jayhawks stumbled to a 5-7 record and failed to qualify for a bowl game for the second consecutive season. — Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026 The price of bitcoin stumbled to a three-week low on Friday, falling to around $62,700, though the leading cryptocurrency has since regained some ground, rising to just over $64,000 on Tuesday. — Ty Roush, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 Pochettino was hired in 2024 to right the ship after the men's team stumbled in a crucial tournament in the run-up to this summer's World Cup. — Becky Sullivan, NPR, 3 Aug. 2026 Facebook stumbled out of the gate and trended lower for months before bottoming at less than half its IPO price. — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbled

Verb

The return to form is all the more stunning given that book sales overall are barely rising, and Amazon, which nearly felled Barnes & Noble in the 2010s, is still a threat.

— Phil Wahba, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026
Each measures 500 square feet, with its walls, ceilings, and timber beams made from pine trees felled on site.

— Madeline Bilis, Travel + Leisure, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of fell

Verb

Miller has alleged his ex-wife has struggled with mental health challenges and is accusing her of making the claims against him to aid in a custody battle for their two-year-old daughter.

— Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Both Alum Rock and Berryessa union school districts, which house Kidango early learning campuses, have struggled with declining enrollment.

— Kate Sequeira, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 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

After Duran took third on a fly ball, pinch-hitter Joc Pederson hit a ground ball up the middle that was fumbled by Taylor Walls, allowing Duran to score.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 July 2026
Chad Powers season 2 sees the actor reprise his role as Russ Holliday, a former star college quarterback who fumbled his promising career after a humiliating championship-game meltdown.

— Shelby Stivale, Entertainment Weekly, 29 July 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

The drama didn’t end there; while exiting the ride with the fox, one of the employees tripped but quickly regained her balance and the fox.

— Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026
Iyo climbed atop the barricade with help from a fan, but Liv tripped her up and took control of the match.

— Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 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

That was broken up by Owens, who stomped Gunther and then caught him with a big clothesline.

— Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
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

Definition of stomped

Verb

All of the missiles slipped past Ukrainian defenses, killing least 17 people and wounding dozens more.

— Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
Just over a year after its acquisition, Hailey Bieber's brand contributed $160 million in quarterly sales of a total $479 million—as sales of elf's namesake brand slipped.

— Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026