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
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
Laura Collins-Hughes
Examples of bumbling in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As always, Gromit plays detective and action hero while the bumbling Wallace is just lucky to be along for the ride.
—Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2024
In Home Alone, still one of the most popular holiday movies decades after its release, Daniel Stern plays one of the bumbling criminals attempting to rob Macaulay Culkin's home.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 1 June 2024
One is the bridge’s bumbling history: the inexplicable construction delays, mammoth cost overruns and financial intrigue, all reaching, typically, deep into the heart of the state’s rotten political core.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
Quickly realizing she has been stood up, Zena is persuaded to have a drink with the bumbling but charming local Paul, played by Laviscount.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for bumbling 
Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2024
In Home Alone, still one of the most popular holiday movies decades after its release, Daniel Stern plays one of the bumbling criminals attempting to rob Macaulay Culkin's home.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 1 June 2024
One is the bridge’s bumbling history: the inexplicable construction delays, mammoth cost overruns and financial intrigue, all reaching, typically, deep into the heart of the state’s rotten political core.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2024
Quickly realizing she has been stood up, Zena is persuaded to have a drink with the bumbling but charming local Paul, played by Laviscount.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for bumbling
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bumbling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Bumbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bumbling. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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