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 But if the numbers hold up, Orange County may have stumbled onto something much bigger than baseball. — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 July 2026 After departing Ecuador en route to El Segundo, members of the crew stumbled upon an unexpected find inside the ship’s garbage — trash bags filled with cocaine, 430 pounds of it. — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 In fact, many were tourists who stumbled on it after getting off the Amtrak, wanting to see the iconic train station. — Kansas City Star, 11 July 2026 One day, in Korea, near the Chosin Reservoir, his marine division stumbled into a surprise attack by a hundred thousand Chinese infantry. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 Chipmakers have stumbled as some investors are taking profits after strong rallies. — John Towfighi, CNN Money, 9 July 2026 After extensive research online, Shahniani stumbled upon a voice acting profile for Mike Brassell, the ride’s original narrator. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026 The exchange stumbled into penalties, and with a delicate touch, Yakin did his thing. — Phil Hay, New York Times, 8 July 2026 Miners flooded the dusty flats surrounding this area after three Irish prospectors, who had immigrated to Australia in the hopes of making their fortunes, accidentally stumbled across gold while looking for water in 1893. — Justin Meneguzzi, Travel + Leisure, 7 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbled

Verb

Countless trees were felled and taken to Eugene for processing in mills or floated up the Willamette to Portland, the sawn trunks chained together in massive, bobbing rafts.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Messi had produced another vintage performance three weeks earlier, this time at the Nou Camp, where the Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng toppled over like a tree that had been felled.

— Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 10 July 2026

Definition of fell

Verb

Turkey struggled against the USMNT’s corners throughout the game, with multiple chances created from outswinging corners towards the penalty spot.

— Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 2026
The visit comes as Garrity trails Shapiro by roughly 20 points, raising questions about how much political influence DeSantis carries in a battleground state where his 2024 presidential campaign struggled to break through.

— Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 14 July 2026

Definition of struggled

Verb

But in her concentration, Porsha fumbled her words, which made the Faithfuls, who were desperate for a crumb of evidence so early in the game, suspicious of her sincerity.

— Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 29 June 2026
Before that, Tampa Bay fumbled scoring opportunities in five of the first seven innings and stranded five overall.

— ABC News, ABC News, 22 June 2026

Definition of fumbled

Verb

Egypt had taken a surprising lead in the 15th minute, but Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolás Tagliafico in the box moments later.

— Kaylah Jackson, NBC news, 8 July 2026
Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box moments later.

— James Robson, Twin Cities, 7 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

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
On Monday night, a 39-year-old man wearing a Spurs jersey was stomped and punched after Game 3 while walking down West 47th Street, about 15 blocks from the arena.

— Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 14 June 2026

Definition of stomped

Verb

The stock has fallen about 20% in July and briefly slipped below its $135 IPO price on Wednesday for the first time.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 17 July 2026
And little by little, Venezuela slipped off the front pages — even though, for millions of people, the work of rebuilding is just getting started.

— Cristina Guevara, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 July 2026