bumble
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
to bungle or blunder awkwardly; muddle.
He somehow bumbled through two years of college.
-
to stumble or stagger.
-
to speak in a low, stuttering, halting manner; mumble.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to speak or do in a clumsy, muddled, or inefficient way
he bumbled his way through his speech
-
(intr) to proceed unsteadily; stumble
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- bumbler noun
- bumbling noun
Etymology
Origin of bumble1
1525–35; perhaps blend of bungle and stumble
Origin of bumble2
1350–1400; Middle English bomblen, frequentative of bomben to boom, buzz; imitative
Explanation
To bumble is to move or speak in an awkward, fumbling way. You might bumble your way through your first dance performance, tripping over your own two feet. When you bumble, you walk unsteadily or speak with a stutter. You can also bumble something, or completely mess it up. An inexperienced teacher might bumble her attempts at managing a huge class of middle school students, and you might worry that you'll bumble your first interview as a radio reporter. Bumble was first used in the 1500's, and it's probably an imitative word, or one that sounds like what it means.
Vocabulary lists containing bumble
Awkward Moments
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"The Wife of Bath's Tale," Vocabulary from the narrative poem
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Look Both Ways
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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.
"With how important bumble bees are as pollinators, it made sense to try and understand more about what's going on in these tiny nectar wars, because they could have a big impact," Miner said.
From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2025
Could 9-8 be enough to bumble into the playoffs this season?
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025
When, in the farcical, action-oriented second half, some attempt to execute a … plot, they bumble and argue and push each other to the front.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2025
Despite all the heavy talk, the film is peppered with moments of levity - the director occasionally cuts away abruptly from tough conversations to run footage of soothing shorelines and bumble bees on flowers.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2024
The humming of the screws overhead dropped an octave and a half, back through wasp and hornet to bumble bee, to cockchafer, to stag- beetle.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
