as in finding
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance
stumbled on some old family photos when she was cleaning out a drawer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumbling (on or onto)
Verb
-
His eyes darted around, finding nowhere to rest.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025 -
Facing one of these situations late in the quarter, Hartman bought time scrambling to his right before finding Brown behind the defense on the sideline for a 38-yard pass to the 9-yard line.—
Jordan Neal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Shanghai and Shenzhen Composite Indices reached the top of recent ranges, encountering resistance.—
Brendan Ahern,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
On social media, people shared instructions for how to turn off auto-play in order to avoid accidentally encountering what amounted to a snuff video.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Stumbling (on or onto).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumbling%20%28on%20or%20onto%29. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share