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
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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
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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
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Over the past two months, he’s been shuffled through three detention centers despite attempts to pay a bond set by the immigration judge.—
Ashleigh Fields,
The Hill,
22 Aug. 2025
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On Wednesday Ahn slowly shuffled to a bridge leading to the Korean Peninsula’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), pleading for permission to cross the zone – one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world – and enter North Korea.—
Gawon Bae,
CNN Money,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Wilcox challenged the dismissal.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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In an article for Harvard Business Review, Allison Shapira explored how post-pandemic shifts have challenged conventional wardrobe norms.—
Darlin Tillery,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And arguing with the benefits of a difficult tuneup game can be a useless point, especially as Napier stumbled in from a practice that ran almost 10 minutes long, gearing up for USF.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
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Closer Bryan Abreu stumbled but has earned the benefit of the doubt with the dominance he’s displayed.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Astronauts are on the cusp in the years ahead of journeying all the way to the Red Planet, where so far only rovers and orbiters have dared to venture.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
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In retrospect, the high stakes arguably heighten the excitement of seeing how these writers dared and got away with it.—
Trish Bendix
August 21,
Literary Hub,
21 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Many in Hollywood were dubious as to whether Universal and Amblin could reboot the Jurassic franchise for a third time, and birth a new trilogy more than three decades after Steven Spielberg’s dinos first stomped onto the big screen in 1993’s Jurassic Park.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
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People expecting a state championship rematch between Benet and Marist in the Crimson Classic finals had those plans stomped upon Saturday when Lockport ended up surprising the Redwings 29-27, 18-25, 15-10 in the semifinals.—
Jeff Vorva,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stumped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumped. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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