flub

American  

[fluhb] / flʌb /

verb (used with or without object)

flubbed, flubbing

1. to perform poorly; blunder; bungle.

   He flubbed the last shot and lost the match.

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noun

1. a blunder.

flub British  

/ flʌb /

noun

1. an embarrassing mistake or blunder

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verb

1. (intr) to blunder or make an embarrassing mistake

Other Word Forms

• flubber
  noun

Etymology

Origin of flub

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; origin uncertain

Explanation

To flub something is to really mess it up. When a movie actor flubs his lines, the scene can be filmed again. But, if he's a stage actor, there's no way to fix the mistake. Even a star basketball player flubs an easy layup sometimes, and the very best students occasionally flub a quiz. The mistake or blunder itself can also be called a flub: "The concert was terrible, full of flubs." The word's been around since the 1920's, possibly influenced by words like "fluff" and "flop," and definitely coined in the United States.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flub flubbed flubbing

After her debate flub, Graham tried to spin it by saying she focused on “kitchen-table issues” such as affordability.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

Yesterday, we asked whether you’ve encountered an AI flub.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Intel’s stock has crashed 17%, wiping out more than $46 billion in market value, since executives revealed the flub on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

The “Cold Mountain” gaffe was a rare instance of a “Good Hang” research flub, one that inadvertently managed to illuminate more of Paltrow’s self-perception.

From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2026

The same face I’d watched flub up Abraham Lincoln’s assassination just hours before stared back at me, although I looked a little paler now.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

But on the day it mattered most, she flubbed her tryout and failed to make the team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

Iamealeava stays after practice to correct throws he flubbed, repeating them each at least five times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

I was grateful for Richard when I began doing another exercise video on repeat, one led by a frigid ballerina who never flubbed or joked.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2024

Because all the conventional problems of filmmaking — like flubbed lines and imperfect framing — exist alongside the possibility of dropping a perfectly cooked sea bream, a dish was waiting if another take was needed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

The most likely person to want to remind me of that day wouldn’t be a fellow operator, or even the commanding officer whose orders I flubbed.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

When he ran for prime minister last year, there were real questions about whether he would take to the political side of the job, and he stumbled at times, flubbing his French, for instance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

The reasoning is straightforward: Why take a risk of legitimizing his rivals, or becoming a target on stage, or just flubbing, when you’re already in a category of your own?

From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2023

Bard did nearly as well, but it interpreted one “9” as a “0,” thus flubbing the final total.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 5, 2023

Rap icon Chuck D took it in stride after a contestant on “Jeopardy” went viral for flubbing an answer with him as the question.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2022

But when a man flubbed a job, and kept on flubbing it, then Mr. Henry Grenoble stepped in and carried out his own job—general managing.

From Sense from Thought Divide by H. R. van Dongen