bumbling

adjective

bum·​bling ˈbəm-b(ə-)liŋ 

: awkwardly blundering or faltering

a bumbling speaker

: prone to or marked by foolish mistakes

a bumbling attempt to fix the problem

… many Americans see the F.D.A. as bumbling and inefficient …

—Herbert Burkholz

bumblingly adverb

… none of them truly wants him in her home while he tries, bumblingly, to get his act together …

—Laura Collins-Hughes

Examples of bumbling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Moore will star alongside him as Lt. Columbo, a disheveled and seemingly bumbling detective who’s investigating the crime. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Charged with selling state secrets to the Soviets, a bumbling FBI agent had a novel defense. —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025

After four seasons as a bumbling apex predator, Joe faces a new challenge as the show ends: The women are fighting back harder than ever. —Anika Reed, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025

Seth Rogen, who is one of the show’s creators, plays a bumbling movie studio boss in way over his head, always making a mess of things but still endearing and likable despite his many flaws. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bumbling

• crumbling
• fumbling
• grumbling
• humbling
• mumbling
• rumbling
• stumbling
• tumbling