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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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

The horse stumbles, trapping Galadriel underneath as the figure, a ring-wearing nazgnagôl, strides toward her. — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026 This year, a gaunt, ravenous stranger stumbles out of the dark carrying something that eats its hosts from the inside out. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Nov. 2026 Even as Heath stumbles his way through the lyrics, the audience respectfully claps along to the beat. — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026 Lizard Music follows a boy (Theo Clark Leber) left to his own devices who stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music, and a hidden door to the extraordinary swings open. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2026 Early in the book, there’s a disturbing scene in which Cathy’s mother stumbles upon a half naked 10-year-old Cathy lying on the floor beneath two teenage boys. — Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 25 Sep. 2026 Liberty stumbles down after escaping 24-23 against a winless FCS Gardner-Webb team that has an interim head coach. — Chris Vannini, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Byron Nelson stumbles again Normally an area power, Trophy Club Byron Nelson is off to a rocky start. — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2026 But as the gyrations historically go, California’s economy somehow steadied in mid-2026, even as the rest of the country stumbles. — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 4 Sep. 2026

Noun

Follow-up stumbles culminated in a marathon three-and-a-half-hour community meeting that collapsed without a resolution. — Tara Knight, Bon Appetit Magazine, 6 Nov. 2026 Director Mary Robertson calls the documentary a love letter to Perry that includes his stumbles and his humor, portraying addiction as the common enemy. — Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026 Sometimes there were big stumbles — notably episodes where characters played by Jane Krakowski and Jon Hamm were in blackface. — Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026 Real breakthroughs rarely come without some stumbles and failures. — John Abou, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026 According to the rules of the game, Joker can only give his team members hints while the rest of the class watches and laughs at their stumbles. — Will Collins, The Washington Examiner, 26 Sep. 2026 Alvarado stumbles, Kennedale climbs Alvarado has been a dominant Class 4A power in recent years. — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2026 Compounding those stumbles have been frequent defensive breakdowns. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026 Honeywell Aerospace shares tumbled 11% on Wednesday evening after the company reported weak quarterly results and cut its full-year outlook due to supply chain stumbles. — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbles

Verb

The water can remain liquid and freeze on contact with the surfaces of an airplane — much like freezing rain falls as liquid and freezes on cars and roads on contact.

— Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026
Edmonton visits New Jersey, and the spotlight falls squarely on Leon Draisaitl.

— OutKick, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of falls

Verb

Special teams struggles a bit Kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a 43-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter, extending the special teams issues for the Dolphins on a day when special teams seemed to be doing OK.

— Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
This provides a specialized foundation if your student struggles primarily with math.

— Karen Koehler, Sacbee.com, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of struggles

Noun

The company cautioned that Claude can make mistakes in its responses and advised users to check important figures with their banks.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2026
Now, her friends are said to be nervous that Lopez will never learn from her mistakes.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of mistakes

Noun

George Santos took quite a few tumbles during his two-episode stint on the Fox reality show, but one — much to his chagrin — didn’t make it to air.

— Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Oct. 2026
Some drives are rated as drop-proof (HDDs are more vulnerable to tumbles than SSDs), shock-proof, or crush-proof; an ingress protection (IP) rating denotes protection from dust, dirt, and water.

— George Yang, PC Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of tumbles

Verb

Six months later, the war trudges on, indirectly ensnaring much of the world by severely disrupting global trade.

— Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
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