bumbling

American  

[buhm-bling] / ˈbʌm blɪŋ /

adjective

1. liable to make awkward blunders.

   a bumbling mechanic.

2. clumsily incompetent or ineffectual.

   bumbling diplomacy.

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noun

1. the act or practice of making blunders.

   The bumbling of their officers cost them the battle.

Other Word Forms

• bumblingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of bumbling

First recorded in 1525–35; bumble ¹ + -ing ²

Example Sentences

What Lily couldn’t have foreseen, of course, was that her amateur detective skills would become necessary when, one day, George is found dead, and the investigation by a bumbling local policeman isn’t up to snuff.

From Salon • May 25, 2026

"The island would not be the same without him. He's still bumbling, still a wee bit getting the wrong end of the stick quite a lot."

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

When attached to a character, indeterminacy manifests itself as confusion, and the novel mines a lot of humor from the bumbling of its poet-antihero.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Kidnapped by bumbling conspiracy theorists Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis, Michelle stares at her jailer calmly as she pitches them on letting her go.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

So we spent that day in the cheery grove, with the vivid light of later afternoon falling on the grasses; we spent it bumbling about in the Blissful State of Mammalian Repose.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• inept