bumbling

adjective

bum·​bling ˈbəm-b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce bumbling (audio)
: awkwardly blundering or faltering
a bumbling speaker
: prone to or marked by foolish mistakes
a bumbling attempt to fix the problem
… many Americans see the F.D.A. as bumbling and inefficient …Herbert Burkholz
bumblingly adverb
… none of them truly wants him in her home while he tries, bumblingly, to get his act together … Laura Collins-Hughes

Examples of bumbling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Her antagonists are a bumbling trio of toughs, drawn with a sharp eye for the immigrant demographics of Brighton Beach: two Armenian Americans, Toros (Karren Karagulian) and Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan), and a Russian, Igor (Yura Borisov). Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024 Their bumbling efforts lead them to uncover a shady water racket and team up with a secretive superhero mosquito. Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024 His boss, Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) remains in the #2 spot at MI5 with First Desk now occupied by the bumbling Claude Whelan—played by Battlestar Galactica alum, James Callis. Erik Kain, Forbes, 21 Sep. 2024 But before that, the Disney Channel was bumbling along since its launch in 1983, mostly broadcasting kids cartoons that harked back to the company’s animation renaissance in the early 1990s. Scarlett Harris, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for bumbling 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bumbling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bumbling was in 1660

Dictionary Entries Near bumbling

Cite this Entry

“Bumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bumbling. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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