bungle

[buhng-guhl]

verb (used with object)

bungled, bungling 

1. to do clumsily and awkwardly; botch.

   He bungled the job.

   Synonyms: ruin, spoil, muddle, mismanage

verb (used without object)

bungled, bungling 

1. to perform or work clumsily or inadequately.

   He is a fool who bungles consistently.

noun

1. a bungling performance.

2. that which has been done clumsily or inadequately.

bungle

/ ˈbʌŋɡəl /

verb

1. (tr) to spoil (an operation) through clumsiness, incompetence, etc; botch

noun

1. a clumsy or unsuccessful performance or piece of work; mistake; botch

Other Word Forms

• bungler noun
• bunglingly adverb
• unbungling adjective
• bungling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bungle¹

First recorded in 1520–30; of uncertain origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of bungle¹

C16: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare dialect Swedish bangla to work without results

Example Sentences

And humans make mistakes too; many years ago, a bungled hospital extubation was the likely cause of my grandmother’s death.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Just think of the rows and bungles of the last seven weeks.

Read more on BBC

A hit-and-run driver who struck and seriously hurt a road worker after a 130mph police chase tried to blame his ex-partner in a bungled cover-up before being caught out by a Ring doorbell.

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The Pirates were part of the centre-right government until they left the coalition over a bungled digitalisation scheme.

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When NPR interviewed Rich Luze, who oversees nutrition for the Sioux City Community School District in Iowa, he worried the government had bungled the way it ended the pandemic’s free meal benefits.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• botch 
• err 
• flub 
• fudge 
• gum up 
• miscalculate 
• mishandle 
• mismanage 
• muff 
• screw up