Synonyms for fumble
All synonyms
Verb
1. Ball up
ball up, foul up, flub informal US AU NZ, botch, mess up, bungle, muff, bumble, feel around informal, blow, bobble, botch up informal, muck up informal, louse up informal, spoil, fluff, mishandle, bollix, bolix US, bodge, boo-boo informal, bollocks up vulgar slang UK AU NZ, bollocks vulgar UK IE
Definitions
- v. 1
To handle nervously or awkwardly.
He fumbled the key into the lock.
Forms
- Past participle
- fumbled
e.g. fumbled → flubbed, botched, bungled, muffed…
Example sentences
- botch Tom and Mary hope that they don't botch the job.
- poke I don't poke my nose into other people's business.
- blunder Don't worry about your blunder: it wasn't serious.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fumble | rising | |
| botch | rising | |
| poke | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- paw1
- 4 letters
- blow1, poke1, muff1, flub
- 5 letters
- spoil1, fluff1, grope1, botch1, bodge, bolix, glaum
- 6 letters
- bumble2, bobble2, bungle2, bollix
- 7 letters
- blunder2, grabble, grubble
- 8 letters
- bollocks2
- 9 letters
- mishandle3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bumble2 = 2 syllables).