STUMBLES Synonyms: 166 Similar and Opposite Words

stumbles 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of stumble

as in falls

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 struggles

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 shuffles

to move heavily or clumsily the tipsy revelers left the path and wearily stumbled through the tangled undergrowth

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as in fumbles

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

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stumbles

2 of 2

noun

plural of stumble

as in mistakes

an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy was his hurtful remark a regrettable stumble, or was it made with artful intention?

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in tumbles

the act of going down from an upright position suddenly and involuntarily has bones so brittle that a minor stumble could result in a serious break

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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 stumbles

Verb

So much of what the product promises depends on OpenAI's software side, but the execution stumbles by scattering controls across multiple places. — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026 When rule-follower Ellie stumbles upon tomboy Ashley trapped in a Hot Topic at the mall, she becomes swept up into her world. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 29 July 2026 Ella Rubin stars as Annie Jacobson, a high schooler who stumbles into a mystery when her grandfather dies and leaves her an island in Canada—along with a cryptic letter. — Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 27 July 2026 But then our son stumbles into the room and burrows between us, his warmth radiating right alongside my light. — Literary Hub, 20 July 2026 Let’s say Paul Simon, a curious man, stumbles upon your song and then reads this interview. — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 20 July 2026 Biden’s stumbles doom his reelection effort Biden’s halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. — Jill Colvin, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 Yet things truly take a turn one day after Miguel stumbles upon a boy, Felipe (Yago Andreu), chained beneath the old water tank near the witch’s old, run-down house. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 July 2026 In the first, a quick history tour revisits how bad Minions have been in their quest to find villains to serve, until one group lands in 1920s Hollywood and stumbles into stardom. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 7 July 2026

Noun

But Marvel has had its stumbles of late, and Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent villain movies (like Madame Web, Morbius and Kraven the Hunter) have largely flopped, so neither is otherwise flawless at franchise management. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026 Despite those stumbles, domestic ticket sales are roughly 10% above 2025, according to Rentrak, and the summer season is expected to surpass $4 billion for the second time since the pandemic upended the industry. — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 19 July 2026 Biden's halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. — ABC News, 14 July 2026 Biden’s halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. — Jill Colvin, Fortune, 14 July 2026 Biden’s stumbles doom his reelection effort Biden’s halting gait, frail appearance and frequent verbal stumbles eventually doomed his 2024 reelection campaign. — Jill Colvin, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 The filmmakers cut freely and rapidly among the duo’s poses, their stumbles, their fears, their tightrope walks across precarious beams in the sky. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 1 July 2026 The bravado that Canada is showing after those early stumbles against Bosnia is the kind of attitude that teams need in the World Cup. — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 24 June 2026 But the history of VTOL aircraft is littered with costly stumbles. — Omar Kardoudi june 21, New Atlas, 21 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbles

Verb

That way if one of its holdings falls, the others are positioned to take up the slack, provided the economy is strong.

— Michael Foster, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
The impact falls disproportionately on women, who have left the workforce in droves, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

— Medora Lee, USA Today, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of falls

Verb

Missile salvos and militia attacks have choked key shipping lanes, damaged Saudi oil facilities and driven up global prices even as fragile diplomacy struggles to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and avert escalation.

— Samy Magdy, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
The film follows a young man who struggles to balance his mental problems, medication, and drugs with his musical ambitions.

— Zac Ntim, Deadline, 30 July 2026

Definition of struggles

Verb

On a cloudy-white Sunday morning in June, Joey Phelps shuffles into the familiar back pew of Yeakley Chapel, the small Methodist church that has been a part of his life for nearly 50 years.

— Harry Bruinius, Christian Science Monitor, 5 July 2026
As though on cue, Wardrobe — my beloved, and giant, closet — shuffles over from the corner of my room, the mahogany wood groaning with the effort.

— Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026

Definition of shuffles

Verb

Tensions between the galley and the interior continue to escalate over lunch service, when a radio mishap fumbles the order in which the food should go out.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 26 May 2026
The movie fumbles the chance to do something arresting with this seminal period in art.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 May 2026

Definition of fumbles

Noun

Efficiency expands access while increasing the number of settings in which consequential mistakes, surveillance and labor displacement can occur.

— Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Sellers can edit any mistakes before an auction begins, and those corrections are used to further improve future AI models.

— Joshua Hong, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of mistakes

Noun

But their erotic encounter is short-lived, as Joe tumbles and blows his back out while sheepishly dancing to Sade.

— Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 11 July 2026
This highly competent, obsessive duo tumbles into a self-destructive cat-and-mouse dynamic — but who’s the cat and who’s the mouse?

— Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 2 July 2026

Definition of tumbles

Verb

Enola dutifully trudges between clues and possibilities, shuffling through crime scenes and racing around shady spaces, all of this much more paint-by-numbers than connect-the-dots.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 June 2026
However, even as the team trudges to a play-in spot rather than a top seed, Green was adamant that the Warriors’ standard of competitiveness cannot change.

— Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026