bumbling Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb make a mess of, destroy or ruin
   muck up; foul up; blow; botch up; botch; bollix; fumble; mishandle; bollocks; bumble; ball up; bobble; bollocks up; spoil; bollix up; fuck up; fluff; flub; bodge; muff; louse up; mess up; screw up; bungle.
   
   • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
   • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
2. verb walk unsteadily
   falter; bumble; stumble.
   
   • The drunk man stumbled about
3. verb speak haltingly
   falter; bumble; stammer; stutter.
   
   • The speaker faltered when he saw his opponent enter the room
4. adjective satellite lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands
   butterfingered; handless; ham-handed; bungling; left-handed; ham-fisted; heavy-handed.
   
   • a bumbling mechanic
   • a bungling performance
   • ham-handed governmental interference
   • could scarcely empty a scuttle of ashes, so handless was the poor creature"- Mary H. Vorse

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