stumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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stumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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.
-
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.
-
to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often followed byalong ).
-
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)
-
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.
-
a moral lapse or error.
-
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:
To put it simply, when faced with really elite opposition, England continue to stumble.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Despite the Clarity Act’s stumble in the Senate, regulatory progress continued apace this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
One bad game doesn’t mean the season is over, but for a Rams team set on a Super Bowl-or-bust trajectory, they can’t afford another prime-time stumble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
So if these stocks start to stumble over higher borrowing costs, it could be an early sign of pressure building in the broader U.S. equity market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
I stumble forward, and something crunches under my feet.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Wall Street grew more worried over Netflix’s viewership trends on Tuesday, as investors soured on the streaming giant’s sales outlook and stumbles in its advertising business.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
One snowy night, he has a breakthrough: Batter stumbles upon the Peck & Peck building where he overhears that the company has an open position.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Most of Workman’s tales are fact-based and reenacted with puppets, although she also stumbles off-site to her local dive bar or her apartment for occasional “Interview with a Demon” segments.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
That leaves less room to respond if the economy stumbles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
But he stumbles to correct himself, “I mean, no. I gotta get to class, too.”
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Ramaswamy stumbled for a moment, responding that legal immigrants were still cool, which failed to satisfy the heckler.
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2026
Baker thought he might have stumbled upon a new changeup grip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
So it is hard to believe that Wanjun Xie had somehow stumbled across such significant news, when it had eluded those whose job it is to stay across it.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Almost sounds silly now, with the way the team has stumbled and bumbled its way through the first four games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
She stumbled sideways, throwing us out into the open, and I fought to keep my balance without losing my grip.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The fumbling, bumbling Chargers keep stumbling in their unprecedented 0-4 start in the Jim Harbaugh era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
The dispute between Hearn and White is the latest stumbling block following years of failed negotiations around the fight.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5% last week, a level that’s been a stumbling point for stocks in the past.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Early on, I felt like an intruder in Arlene’s world, stumbling over her letters and term sheets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
City officials threw up one stumbling block after another to delay implementation of the Court’s intent.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
