MEANING
To move or act awkwardly, making small mistakes or showing little direction.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- bumble through an explanation
- bumble along
On the page
He bumbled through the introductions and forgot his own title.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- bumble
- Past tense
- bumbled
- Past participle
- bumbled
- Present participle
- bumbling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- bumble
- Present continuous
- am/is/are bumbling
- Present perfect
- have/has bumbled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been bumbling
- Past
- bumbled
- Past continuous
- was/were bumbling
- Past perfect
- had bumbled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been bumbling
- Future
- will bumble
- Future continuous
- will be bumbling
- Future perfect
- will have bumbled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been bumbling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: bumble; bumbles; bumbled; bumbled; bumbling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: bumbles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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