stumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall; trip.
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to walk or go unsteadily.
to stumble down a dark passage.
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to make a slip, mistake, or blunder, especially a sinful one.
to stumble over a question; to stumble and fall from grace.
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to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often followed byalong ).
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to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually followed by on, upon, oracross ).
They stumbled on a little village.
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to falter or hesitate, as at an obstacle to progress or belief.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to stumble; trip.
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to give pause to; puzzle or perplex.
noun
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the act of stumbling.
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a moral lapse or error.
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a slip or blunder.
verb
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to trip or fall while walking or running
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to walk in an awkward, unsteady, or unsure way
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to make mistakes or hesitate in speech or actions
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to come (across) by accident
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to commit a grave mistake or sin
noun
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a false step, trip, or blunder
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the act of stumbling
Other Word Forms
- stumbler noun
- stumbling adjective
- stumblingly adverb
- unstumbling adjective
Etymology
Origin of stumble
1275–1325; Middle English stumblen; cognate with Norwegian stumla to grope and stumble in the dark; akin to stammer
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.
And a stumble early in the tournament would make the kind of deep run Pochettino promised that much more difficult.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
Its balance sheet is roughly twice the size of Switzerland’s economy, raising concerns about economic impact should it stumble like Credit Suisse.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
Most employees acquire those skills over time—by learning from their nonwork relationships, watching how colleagues behave in the office, and by seeing what happens when they stumble in their own workplace interactions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
So, they serve up an array of the outlandish - mid-scroll, viewers stumble upon a lover's fight or a menacing standoff.
From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026
I stumble forward, and something crunches under my feet.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
