foozle

[ foo-zuhl ]
See synonyms for foozle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with or without object),foo·zled, foo·zling.
  1. to bungle; play clumsily: to foozle a stroke in golf;to foozle on the last hole.

noun
  1. act of foozling, especially a bad stroke in golf.

Origin of foozle

1
First recorded in 1825–35; perhaps from dialectal German fuseln “to work badly, clumsily, hurriedly”

Words Nearby foozle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use foozle in a sentence

  • Because I thought you were such a respectable, harmless old foozle that you'd never do anything to deserve it.

    The Brass Bottle | F. Anstey
  • If I tried a trick out of turn, I might foozle and lose prestige.

    Hearts and Masks | Harold MacGrath
  • Xuriel apparently did know his job, for the King's ball continued to be as foozle-proof as the Marshal's mashie.

    In Brief Authority | F. Anstey
  • He was a slow, putterin' kind of an ole foozle, but on the hull a putty decent citizen.

    David Harum | Edward Noyes Westcott
  • The newspapers would denounce me as a treacherous liar—you fellows own or control or foozle them in one way and another.

    The Deluge | David Graham Phillips

British Dictionary definitions for foozle

foozle

/ (ˈfuːzəl) mainly golf /


verb
  1. to bungle (a shot)

noun
  1. a bungled shot

Origin of foozle

1
C19: perhaps from German dialect fuseln to do slipshod work

Derived forms of foozle

  • foozler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012