1
as in shuffled
to move heavily or clumsily
the seemingly endless parade finally ended, and the drummers and tuba players stumped wearily to their buses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in challenged
to invite (someone) to take part in a contest or to perform a feat
when my grandfather was a kid, he and his friends would stump one another to dive into the local swimming hole
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 stumped
House Speaker Mike Johnson stumped for Neimeyer in 2024, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has put the district on its list of 26 seats to target in 2026.
—
Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 26 Aug. 2025
His case had stumped his doctors.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
Thinking it over, the thing that stumped me was, what would 1/6 of a buck look like roaming through the woods?
—Chester Chatfield, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2025
The debate has stumped some lawmakers, unsure about antifa’s physical framework, while spurring others to want to unmask these militants engaged in high-level, and sometimes large-scale, coordinated efforts.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 12 Aug. 2025
Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 26 Aug. 2025
His case had stumped his doctors.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
Thinking it over, the thing that stumped me was, what would 1/6 of a buck look like roaming through the woods?
—Chester Chatfield, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2025
The debate has stumped some lawmakers, unsure about antifa’s physical framework, while spurring others to want to unmask these militants engaged in high-level, and sometimes large-scale, coordinated efforts.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumped
Verb
-
Amid the hangover of the 0-4 start, students shuffled out their dorms, lured by free food and faint promise of school spirit at the Rose Bowl.—
Cameron Teague Robinson,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Restyle Soft Goods Soft goods like accent pillows, throw blankets, and even curtains can be easily shuffled around to refresh your space, Reinhard says.—
Cori Sears,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Trump officials have been warned internally that permanent firings during the shutdown could be effectively challenged as violations of appropriations law, according to a senior government official.—
Brian Bennett,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
-
What unites all these titles is the fact they’ve been challenged by courts in Colorado or around the country.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Except, of course, for that old dinosaur that somehow stumbled into a misplaced DeLorean, fired up the flux capacitor, and time travelled from the stone ages straight to the Uli beach.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Determined to keep searching, Hollie eventually stumbled on a TLC episode featuring a boy named Gio, who also had Schwartz-Jampel Syndrome.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
What’s clear is that the power of that institution is now in the hands of hacks who clock in every single morning determined solely to purge this country of any citizen who ever dared to challenge or dislike this president.—
Billy Ray,
Deadline,
29 Sep. 2025
-
But the two Prime Ministers who dared to suggest freezing the highest public pensions were immediately voted out of office by both the Left and Marine Le Pen’s far-right.—
Renaud Foucart,
Time,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
By Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman Coming into last season, the Washington Capitals had taken major steps to improve a roster that, by plenty of measures, had fluked its way into the postseason and summarily gotten stomped in the first round.—
The Athletic NHL,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
When the band quickly left before the encore, the elated, yet sweaty, audience clapped their hands and stomped their feet without virtually anyone leaving the building.—
Josh Chesler,
AZCentral.com,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumped. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share