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:
So if these stocks start to stumble over higher borrowing costs, it could be an early sign of pressure building in the broader U.S. equity market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 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
Talking about Wagyu, the prized Japanese beef, it’s easy to stumble into poetry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
While watching a film is something you could do back home, she says people might stumble on an old theatre which is "still a part of the history of that city".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
I just stumble to him and squeeze his arm, so he knows I’m alright.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
If Nvidia stumbles, your portfolio, and perhaps the broader economy, is going to take a beating, even if you don’t own the stock.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
The stumbles add to a string of struggles in the meal-kit industry since the boom times of the pandemic receded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
And if management stumbles out of the gate, shares trade at a discount to the S&P 500, which offers investors a floor.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
If it stumbles, Pulisic will get the blame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
She stumbles a little on responsibility, but she gets it out.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
He stumbled out of bed in his underwear and down the hall to his darkened living room.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
While wholesale demand stumbled in its latest three-month period, direct sales surged by double digits, proving consumers are willing to buy its products without a discount, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Stocks stumbled out of the gate after Labor Day, with a jittery tone gripping markets as the typically weak month of September began in earnest after the holiday.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
When he was asked in the heat of the 2024 presidential race about how he planned to address child care, an issue affecting families of all political persuasions, he stumbled.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Owen stumbled as they backed into a low ridge and fell on his butt.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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
"I was a party planner for over 10 years and ... I was very sustainably focused. The final stumbling block for me was the balloon waste," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Fisherman and free-diver Giacomo De Mola described stumbling across the historic vessel while surveying the seabed near Mazara del Vallo.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
One stumbling block: Rules that might once have offered guidance are gone, leaving individuals to puzzle out what’s appropriate for the workplace themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
He lost Paul and ran almost blindly, stumbling over rocks and weaving around trees.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
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.
