EN

Synonyms for stumble

34 synonyms
4 meanings

noun
verb

Most common

mistake slip slip-up blunder

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Error — an error or blunder

error, blunder, slip-up, slip, mistake, fault, goof, boo-boo informal, lapse, gaffe, blooper, defect, faux pas, fluff, floater, flub US AU NZ, botch, bungle, boner, solecism, thinko slang

2. Trip

3. Stagger

Other

false step, founder

Verb

1. Falter

Other

hit, err, trip up, hesitate, confound

Definitions

n. 1
An error or blunder.
n. 2
A fall, trip or substantial misstep.
n. 3
A clumsy walk.
v. 1
To misstep; to walk or run clumsily; to trip or fall.
Last night, you drunkenly stumbled to the front door, waking up the whole house.

Related words

Word family: stumblebum stumbler
Phrases: stumble against stumble on stumble upon stumble across stumble onto

Forms

Plural: stumbles → errors, blunders, slip-ups, slips…
Past participle: stumbled
e.g. stumbled → faltered, bumbled, erred, hesitated…

Example sentences

mistake If that man makes one more mistake, I'll fire him.
slip She was walking slowly, so that she wouldn't slip.
blunder Don't worry about your blunder: it wasn't serious.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
stumble		rising
mistake		rising
slip		steady
blunder		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: hit¹, err¹
4 letters: trip¹, slip¹, goof¹, flub
5 letters: fault¹, error², lapse¹, fluff¹, boner², lurch¹, gaffe¹, botch¹
6 letters: defect², bumble², falter², bungle², thinko
7 letters: mistake², founder², blunder², stagger², floater², blooper²
8 letters: hesitate³, confound², solecism

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (error² = 2 syllables).