blunder
Americannoun
-
blunders
plural
verb (used without object)
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blunders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blundered,
past participle, past
-
blundering
present participle
-
to move or act blindly, stupidly, or without direction or steady guidance.
Without my glasses I blundered into the wrong room.
-
to make a gross or stupid mistake, especially through carelessness or mental confusion.
Just pray that he doesn't blunder again and get the names wrong.
verb (used with object)
-
blunders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blundered,
past participle, past
-
blundering
present participle
-
to bungle; botch.
Several of the accounts were blundered by that new assistant.
-
to utter thoughtlessly; blurt out.
He blundered his surprise at their winning the award.
noun
-
a stupid or clumsy mistake
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a foolish tactless remark
verb
-
to make stupid or clumsy mistakes
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to make foolish tactless remarks
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to act clumsily; stumble
he blundered into a situation he knew nothing about
-
(tr) to mismanage; botch
Synonym Usage
See mistake.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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blunderernoun
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blunderingnoun
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superblundernoun
-
outblunderverb (used with object)
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nonblunderingadjective
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unblunderingadjective
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blunderinglyadverb
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nonblunderinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blundersimple
-
blunderssimple
-
have blunderedperfect
-
has blunderedperfect
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am blunderingprogressive
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are blunderingprogressive
-
is blunderingprogressive
-
have been blunderingperfect progressive
-
has been blunderingperfect progressive
Past
-
blunderedsimple
-
had blunderedperfect
-
was blunderingprogressive
-
were blunderingprogressive
-
had been blunderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blunder
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English blunderen, blondren (verb), from Old Norse blunda “to shut one's eyes, nap”; compare Norwegian dialect blundra
Explanation
A blunder is an embarrassing mistake. Accidentally called your new boyfriend by your old boyfriend's name? Ouch. That's a blunder you don't want to repeat. Has an embarrassing mistake ever made you feel like you’re stumbling around with your eyes closed? If so, it won’t surprise you to learn that blunder comes from the Old Norse word blundra, meaning to “shut one's eyes.” It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that blunder came to refer to a stupid or embarrassing mistake, or as a verb, to describe making such a mistake, as in “I tend to blunder when I'm nervous.”
Vocabulary lists containing blunder
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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English Words Derived from Old Norse
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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:
Einstein famously referred to his introduction of the cosmological constant as his "biggest blunder," since his original equations without the additional term could have predicted an expanding universe.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Instead of owning the blunder, Schmitt doubled down.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Ravens got an emotional boost with their win off the Cowboys’ blunder, though they shouldn’t have lost to the Saints in Week 2.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The name blunder earlier this week was part of the Cheshire zoo's ticket promotion to allow visitors to go on a tour showcasing its Sumatran tigers, lions, rhinos and Komodo dragons.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
To start excusing myself now, for this or that, would be a blunder.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
After downing Atletico in the first of the three-peat, they beat Juventus and then Liverpool - the latter remembered for Gareth Bale's cameo, Loris Karius' blunders and Sergio Ramos leaving his mark on Mo Salah.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
There were mighty blunders off the field too under Jarmond, including an email that went out to donors that came with an attachment revealing personal information and spending tallies of the department’s biggest donors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
AI-generated blunders do not necessarily destroy a lawyer's case, French lawyer Damien Charlotin told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
Even as he ages, he never appears to learn from his blunders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Simple errors can be fixed with an eraser; more complicated blunders require an apology and a sincere effort to make things right.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
That’s why Evgeny blundered into Dmitri’s shop, although he admits that he’s none too successful at this gig.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
But Ding blundered on move 55 and Gukesh exploited the error to clinch the title.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
Addressing some 100 C.I.A. officials on March 19, Mr. Burns acknowledged how the agency catastrophically blundered in its assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2023
Like SVB, First Republic blundered into trouble as the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates almost 14 months ago.
From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023
Sometimes she blundered into a side channel and wasted hours working her way back out.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
At the 1994 tournament in Linares, Spain, Mr. Kasparov—as the camera later showed—made a blundering move, let go of the piece, changed his mind and moved it back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
Her hopes of justice were raised ahead of the court case in 2003, only to be let down by legal "blundering".
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
Naive, blundering hobbyists and reckless pranksters can also veer into restricted airspace, setting off alarms and potentially shutting down airport traffic.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
Steve Carell, the screen actor best known for his breakout role as a blundering boss in the NBC comedy “The Office,” will make his Broadway debut in a revival of the Chekhov classic “Uncle Vanya.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
But it was no good blundering on through the dark either.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
