fumble

American  

[fuhm-buhl] / ˈfʌm bəl /

verb (used without object)

• fumbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fumbled,
  past participle,  past
• fumbling
  present participle

1. to feel or grope about clumsily.

   She fumbled in her purse for the keys.

2. Sports. to fumble the ball.

---

verb (used with object)

• fumbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fumbled,
  past participle,  past
• fumbling
  present participle

1. to make, handle, etc., clumsily or inefficiently.

   to fumble an attempt; He fumbled his way through the crowded room.

   Synonyms:

   muff, spoil, mishandle, botch, bungle

2. Sports. to fail to hold or maintain hold on (a ball) after having touched it or carried it.

noun

• fumbles
  plural

1. the act of fumbling.

   We completed the difficult experiment without a fumble.

2. Sports. an act or instance of fumbling the ball.

fumble British  

/ ˈfʌmbəl /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by for or with) to grope about clumsily or blindly, esp in searching

   he was fumbling in the dark for the money he had dropped

2. (intr; foll by at or with) to finger or play with, esp in an absent-minded way

3. to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly

   he fumbled the introduction badly

4. to fail to catch or grasp (a ball, etc) cleanly

---

noun

1. the act of fumbling

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fumbler
  noun
• fumblingness
  noun
• outfumble
  verb (used with object)
• unfumbled
  adjective
• unfumbling
  adjective
• fumblingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fumbles
  plural

Participles

• fumbling
  present
• fumbled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fumble
  simple
• fumbles
  simple
• have fumbled
  perfect
• has fumbled
  perfect
• am fumbling
  progressive
• are fumbling
  progressive
• is fumbling
  progressive
• have been fumbling
  perfect progressive
• has been fumbling
  perfect progressive

Past

• fumbled
  simple
• had fumbled
  perfect
• was fumbling
  progressive
• were fumbling
  progressive
• had been fumbling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fumble
  simple
• will have fumbled
  perfect
• will be fumbling
  progressive
• will have been fumbling
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of fumble

1500–10; akin to Norwegian, Swedish fumla, Middle Low German fummeln to grope, fumble

---

Explanation

If you're a football fan you know all about the agony of the fumble — the clumsy handling of the ball that makes you drop it or lose possession. Fumbling is an uncoordinated movement that can involve your entire body, not just your hands. Witness the poor parent of a newborn trying to fumble with a diaper on at three in the morning. Fumble has a more metaphorical meaning as well, meaning to mess up or mishandle. Politicians are often accused of fumbling the major issues.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fumble fumbles fumbled fumbling

Three minutes from time, Canada mounted an attack from halfway after a fumble put Harrison's clearing kick under pressure, and replacement Seumanutafa charged down the left wing to complete the comeback.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

But on the next play, linebacker Nate Landman punched the ball from Cook’s grasp and Aaron Donald recovered the fumble with 7:54 left.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

It sure felt like a Washington home game when they recovered a Colts fumble on just the game's second play.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Previously, he would have had to fumble with a paper map that risked deteriorating in the jungle humidity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

I smile to myself, watching Darius fumble for his keys.

From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi

He forced five fumbles and had three sacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Pittsburgh won here last year, but the Patriots coughed up a bunch of fumbles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

This time their defence did their job too, though, recording four sacks and forcing four fumbles.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

But it ends with a blooper shot where Burnham fumbles to catch the helmet and bursts out laughing.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

She hands Max the key, and he fumbles with the lock, then opens the door.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Over the course of four minutes, the robot fumbled with the towel’s floppy and unwieldy shape as it slowly smoothed out the fabric, located the corners and lined up the edges.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

It wasn’t going to fall to running back James Cook, who had fumbled twice already.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

More poor finishing came in the rain in New York as the Cleveland Browns missed an extra point and then Corey Bojorquez fumbled a late punt which the Jets turned into the winning touchdown.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

He hit a low point in Sunday’s 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars when he threw two picks and fumbled twice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

As I fumbled to unlock the front door, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was still alone.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Whether or not it’s fair to compare Take-Two’s investigation of a leaked video game with the DOJ fumbling inquiries into participants of a global sex trafficking ring, the internet has certainly taken notice.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

Wilde in particular lights up during this section, Angela’s mind racing at possibilities she never considered for herself while fumbling over the practicalities of protocols and just how this would work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

"And, of course, the key to solving a problem is to understand why it's gone wrong. Otherwise, you're just fumbling in the dark."

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

Are Scotland and the UK fumbling the shift away from oil and gas jobs?

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026

He peered into the dark while fumbling with the switch of a flashlight, which he shined into our faces.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• botch
• flub
• mishandle
• screw up
• stumble

---