bungle
verb (used with object)
to do clumsily and awkwardly; botch.
was bungling
-
past progressiveof bungle.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
The Postal Service acknowledged in a Sept. 3 court filing that the portal wasn’t yet up and running, and an anonymous whistleblower said the agency was bungling the hasty rollout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
One of the world’s richest countries, they said, was bungling its response.
From The Guardian ● May 22, 2020
Lord Noel-Buxton thundered that the Government was bungling its African relations, urged the Imperial Conference, meeting in London, to see to it that the peoples of the Empire were protected "regardless of race."
From Time Magazine Archive
One day, when Mansell was bungling most abominably with his Euripides, he flung his Bohn along the desk, Mansell picked it up, propped it in front of him and read it off.
From The Loom of Youth by Alec Waugh
It seemed that the man on the port side was bungling; but at last—nearly a minute after the other man had lit his flare—he got going.
From The Ghost Pirates by William Hope Hodgson
