stumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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stumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stumbled,
past participle, past
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stumbling
present participle
-
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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stumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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stumbled,
past participle, past
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stumbling
present participle
-
to cause to stumble; trip.
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to give pause to; puzzle or perplex.
noun
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stumbles
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stumblesimple
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stumblessimple
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have stumbledperfect
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has stumbledperfect
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am stumblingprogressive
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are stumblingprogressive
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is stumblingprogressive
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have been stumblingperfect progressive
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has been stumblingperfect progressive
Past
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stumbledsimple
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had stumbledperfect
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was stumblingprogressive
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were stumblingprogressive
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had been stumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stumble
1275–1325; Middle English stumblen; cognate with Norwegian stumla to grope and stumble in the dark; akin to stammer
Explanation
To stumble means to nearly fall by tripping or missing a step. When you walk over uneven cobblestones, it’s easy to stumble, so please be careful. While stumble often means to nearly fall, it can also mean to make a misstep of a different kind. If you stumble over your words, you speak in a stuttering confused manner. Politicians make so many public decisions that they're bound to stumble — make a mistake — occasionally. When you stumble on rare mushrooms, i.e. come across them unexpectedly, be sure have the species verified before you eat them.
Vocabulary lists containing stumble
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Steve Jobs's Commencement Address (2005)
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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.
See Examples For:
As the name suggests, Stolpersteine are intended as memorials people stumble upon, making them reflect on the history of their location.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Could the two nations, he asked, avoid the “Thucydides Trap”—the ancient pattern, described by the Harvard political scientist Graham Allison, in which a rising power and a ruling one stumble into war?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
U.S. equities generally stumble toward the beginning of interest-rate hiking cycles by the Federal Reserve – but there are certain markets which outperform, according to Citigroup.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
There is this idea that through market-controlling systems like the draft and the salary cap, any team, no matter how minor or shabby, may stumble into a transcendent talent and anoint a dynasty.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
At best, we could stumble into Kashgar and try somehow to reassemble our stock at the grand market where merchants unloaded their goods before tackling the mountain pass or turning back eastward to Turfan.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
A one-year-old toddler stumbles around an immigration court in Louisiana, crying.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Most of Workman’s tales are fact-based and reenacted with puppets, although she also stumbles off-site to her local dive bar or her apartment for occasional “Interview with a Demon” segments.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
It’s not just that a robot becomes less threatening when it stumbles.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
In Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Possible Love,’ a budding connection stumbles over the class divide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
He steps inside the house and stumbles a bit when he catches me sitting alone in the dark.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Before Quenneville arrived, the Ducks stumbled through a franchise-record seven straight losing seasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
She started with her maternal grandmother and worked her way back through time using public archives in the Netherlands until she stumbled upon a painter she had never heard of: Jeremias Schultz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
While the U.S. stock market has sometimes stumbled this year after Treasury yields’ sudden bursts higher, Kourkafas sees economic growth and a rotation into tech helping the S&P 500 digest higher rates.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
The fear is dialled up an extra notch by Byron Bullock's rich sound design, with the music swelling almost unbearably intensely when spluttering nasties stumbled closer.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
We waved until she stumbled and Francey took her hand.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Uber’s new Kenyan safari business is stumbling as local guides push back against the idea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
The dispute between Hearn and White is the latest stumbling block following years of failed negotiations around the fight.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5% last week, a level that’s been a stumbling point for stocks in the past.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
If “Backrooms” was all about stumbling onto a place humans aren’t supposed to go, “Chronovisor” puts us exactly where we need to be.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
And though it was the furthest thing from any of our minds on the day she died, the loss of Maman Soury would also be a stumbling block in our immigration process.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
