stumbling 1 of 2

adjective

as in muttering

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stumbling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of stumble
1
as in falling
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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2
as in struggling
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually stumbled twice while she was reciting the "Gettysburg Address"

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3
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily the tipsy revelers left the path and wearily stumbled through the tangled undergrowth

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4
as in fumbling
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 stumbling
Verb
The teddy bears, the stumbling answers, the whole morning in the Cotillion was a mess. — Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026 Calhoun, who moved to Kansas City from Ames, Iowa, in 2016, started photography during the pandemic after stumbling across a photography video on YouTube. — Kansas City Star, 24 Aug. 2026 Nothing that would actually stop a person, a child, a wheelchair or a stumbling drunk from going straight into the water. — Joseph V. Sakran, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2026 Such a contrast to the wonderful Bootham Crescent, York’s home until 2020 and within stumbling distance of not only the famous Minster but all the city’s many other attractions. — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026 Finding large accumulations of geologic hydrogen entails stumbling on a Goldilocks set of conditions. — IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2026 The most underachieving team on the Los Angeles sports landscape is embarrassingly stumbling through another season. — Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026 This can help prevent the patient from stumbling across information that’s difficult to understand, potentially upsetting, or just plain irrelevant to their own situation. — Nicole Pajer, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026 Last year, a bison tragically boiled to death after stumbling into one of Yellowstone's hot springs. — Amber Harding Outkick, FOXNews.com, 21 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbling
  1. faltering
  2. falling
  3. struggling
  4. shuffling
  5. fumbling
  6. sputtering
  7. tripping
  8. blundering
Adjective
  • The film spells out the gargantuan payouts that each Boeing CEO has received, despite the crashes and questions about their actions and the company’s faltering value.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • In 2019 and again in 2020, the company launched a pair of spacecraft that latched onto faltering communication satellites and steered them, providing extra years of life.
    — Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 22 July 2026
Definition of faltering
Verb
  • In 2008, a fake story online about Jobs’ death sent Apple stock (AAPL) falling 9%.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
  • City officials said on Instagram that city crews have removed electrical lines mounted to nearby palm trees that are at risk of falling.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of falling
Verb
  • The papers served to underline how central banks are struggling to keep up with challenges introduced by technology.
    — Maria Eloisa Capurro, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The longer the current situation continues, the greater the strain on an economy already struggling with shortages, inflation and restrictions on trade.
    — Hamidreza Azizi, Time, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of struggling
Verb
  • The bull riders—including the current champion, 20-year-old John Crimber—stand with their cowboy hat over their heart, boots shuffling nervously in the dirt.
    — Christine Lennon, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Aug. 2026
  • There must have been a hundred of us there, circling the truck, clambering onto its hood, shuffling and shimmying and twerking with abandon.
    — Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffling
Verb
  • The Packers’ offense left the field, but came back after it was ruled that Watson was down before fumbling.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Here was his senior running back, who scored a 44-yard touchdown in their state championship win months earlier, fumbling on the very first play of the Blue-White scrimmage.
    — Kevin Fishbain, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of fumbling
Adjective
  • This season’s combination of a sputtering offense and a shaky bullpen – exposed again Sunday as the Brewers padded their lead in the late innings – is already way too stomach-churning for Dodger fans.
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Trump spoke now not only to distract from his sputtering Iran war and its effects on the economy, but also because his attempts to concretely interfere with the 2026 election thus far have almost all failed.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
Definition of sputtering
Verb
  • The nearly two-minute spot depicts a club-wielding bureaucrat chasing and tripping a child on a bike and another stealing a boy’s scooter.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The boy was outside by himself for a total of nine minutes and had fallen into the pool after tripping over an inflatable chair, the report added.
    — Jose R. Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of tripping
Verb
  • Only a blundering idiot could spoil such an alliance and threaten damage to Florida’s economy.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
  • On Monday, the first day of the trial in which Basabe is representing himself without an attorney, the proceedings were shaded by Basabe’s blundering legal missteps and procedural chaos.
    — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
Definition of blundering

Phrases Containing stumbling

Browse Nearby Words

stumble (upon)
stumbling
stumbling block
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Cite this Entry

“Stumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumbling. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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