stumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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stumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stumbled,
past participle, past
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stumbling
present participle
-
to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall; trip.
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to walk or go unsteadily.
to stumble down a dark passage.
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to make a slip, mistake, or blunder, especially a sinful one.
to stumble over a question; to stumble and fall from grace.
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to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often followed byalong ).
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to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually followed by on, upon, oracross ).
They stumbled on a little village.
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to falter or hesitate, as at an obstacle to progress or belief.
verb (used with object)
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stumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stumbled,
past participle, past
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stumbling
present participle
-
to cause to stumble; trip.
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to give pause to; puzzle or perplex.
noun
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stumbles
plural
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the act of stumbling.
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a moral lapse or error.
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a slip or blunder.
verb
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to trip or fall while walking or running
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to walk in an awkward, unsteady, or unsure way
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to make mistakes or hesitate in speech or actions
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to come (across) by accident
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to commit a grave mistake or sin
noun
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a false step, trip, or blunder
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the act of stumbling
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stumblesimple
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stumblessimple
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have stumbledperfect
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has stumbledperfect
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am stumblingprogressive
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are stumblingprogressive
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is stumblingprogressive
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have been stumblingperfect progressive
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has been stumblingperfect progressive
Past
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stumbledsimple
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had stumbledperfect
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was stumblingprogressive
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were stumblingprogressive
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had been stumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stumble
1275–1325; Middle English stumblen; cognate with Norwegian stumla to grope and stumble in the dark; akin to stammer
Explanation
To stumble means to nearly fall by tripping or missing a step. When you walk over uneven cobblestones, it’s easy to stumble, so please be careful. While stumble often means to nearly fall, it can also mean to make a misstep of a different kind. If you stumble over your words, you speak in a stuttering confused manner. Politicians make so many public decisions that they're bound to stumble — make a mistake — occasionally. When you stumble on rare mushrooms, i.e. come across them unexpectedly, be sure have the species verified before you eat them.
Vocabulary lists containing stumble
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Steve Jobs's Commencement Address (2005)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“If someone is afraid they are going to lose something like their job, they are going to stumble over themselves.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
They stumble over time into an unlikely friendship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
You can almost stumble on to a combination that works well and this time maybe one has helped Brazil.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Remove any one of the three, and the other two will stumble and die.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
I stumble forward and bounce off a horse’s passing haunch.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
This partly explains the race to buy pre-IPO stock—investors who access shares early can get in at a lower price, allowing for gains even if a stock stumbles post-IPO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Anthropic, and its competitors, will have some stumbles as these companies expand rapidly,” Ritter says.
From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026
They also noted that as its U.S. business stumbles, Lululemon has increasingly relied on China for growth.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
The recovery was marked by additional stumbles, reversing course on traffic checkpoints, tax relief for wildfire victims and the need for a single recovery chief.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
I’d learned through the campaign stumbles that I had to be better, faster, smarter, and stronger than ever.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Then, on his way home from a run, he stumbled on a loophole: a neighborhood farmers market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Though, as far as first impressions go in this conference, Chesney certainly had a leg up on his predecessor, who stumbled through his own opening address two years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Cardiff Rugby academy players stumbled on Christopher's bathtub while carrying out essential maintenance work on the mountain, and helped rangers retrieve it.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
I love a Snickers bar, so when I stumbled upon TikTok recipes for a five-ingredient date “Snickers,” I knew I had to try it.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Mal stumbled, and he caught her by the elbow.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
After stumbling, the Nasdaq accelerated, with its gain in Bespoke’s indexed series reaching 592.5% in March 2000.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
The "constant delay and aimless stumbling" around the project had made any planned recovery even more "painful, slow and difficult", as the town's experienced salt workers were now long retired or dead, he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
The latest stumbling block surrounds Britain's bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships at London Stadium - because the event would clash with West Ham's football fixtures.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Dennis, who barely escaped after stumbling into that realm through a hidden portal, hoped never to return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Nathan was groping for words, stumbling a little over them.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
