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
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.
So option one, then, is sack them, replace them and stumble on, as the hot favourite to be your successor barrels down the West Coast Mainline to Westminster.
From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026
But on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, users were likelier to stumble across news while doing something else.
From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026
Outsiders would sometimes stumble across the Rocket Lab community and be swept up in its orbit.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
The main “Toy Story” franchise has yet to take a major stumble because the franchise has great bones.
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026
I stumble backward toward the gate, and then think better of it.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
