stumble

English

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stam- (“to trip up; to stammer, stutter”), thereby related to German stumm (“mute”), Dutch stom (“dumb”). Doublet of stammer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstʌmbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmbəl

Noun

stumble (plural stumbles)

1. A fall, trip or substantial misstep.
   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     I went to his aid. As he said, a board in the floor was loose. His stepping on it unawares had caused his stumble.

2. An error or blunder.
   • 2022 July 21, Emily Hell, “TikTok’s Pink Sauce chef defends her viral condiment”, in Washington Post‎^[1]:

     She owns up to early stumbles, such as bottles being mislabeled.

3. A clumsy walk.
   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

Synonyms

• (a blunder): blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, thinko
• See also Thesaurus:error

Translations

a fall or trip

• Arabic: عَثْرَة f (ʕaṯra)
• Bulgarian: спъване (bg) n (spǎvane), запъване n (zapǎvane)
• Catalan: ensopegada (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 失足 (zh) (shīzú)

• Czech: klopýtnutí n, zakopnutí n
• Danish: snublen c
• Dutch: struikelen (nl)
• Finnish: kompastus (fi)
• French: chute (fr) f, faux pas (fr) m
• Georgian: ბორძიკი (borʒiḳi), წაბორძიკება (c̣aborʒiḳeba)
• German: Stolpern n, Fehltritt (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: πταῖσμα n (ptaîsma), σφάλμα n (sphálma)

• Hungarian: botlás (hu)
• Italian: scivolone (it) m
• Occitan: contrapàs m, escarlimpada f
• Persian: سکندر (fa) (sekandar), سکندری (fa) (sekandari)
• Polish: potknięcie się n
• Portuguese: tropeço (pt)
• Russian: спотыка́ние (ru) n (spotykánije)
• Slovak: zakopnutie n, potknutie sa n
• Spanish: tropezón (es) m, traspié (es) m

an error or blunder

• Bulgarian: погрешна стъпка f (pogrešna stǎpka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 过失 (zh) (guòshī)

• Danish: fejl (da) c, fejltrin n
• Finnish: virhe (fi), moka (fi)
• French: bourde (fr) f
• German: Fehler (de) m, Schnitzer (de) m, Ausrutscher (de) m, Patzer (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: διάπτωμα n (diáptōma)

• Hungarian: botlás (hu)
• Polish: potknięcie n
• Russian: про́мах (ru) m (prómax)
• Spanish: desliz (es) m, torpeza (es), tropiezo (es) m

Verb

stumble (third-person singular simple present stumbles, present participle stumbling, simple past and past participle stumbled)

1. (intransitive) To trip or fall; to walk clumsily.

   He stumbled over a rock.

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     He stumbled up the dark avenue.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for.

2. (intransitive) To make a mistake or have trouble.

   I always stumble over verbs in Spanish.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 28:7:

     […] they are out of the way through strong drinke, they erre in vision, they stumble in iudgement.

3. (transitive) To cause to stumble or trip.
   • 2017, Jacqueline Druga, Sleepers, page 39:

     Slowly, I turned around and the shock of it stumbled me back a few steps.

4. (transitive, figurative) To mislead; to confound; to cause to err or to fall.
   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:

     False and dazzling fires to stumble men.

   • a. 1705, John Locke, “An Examination of P[ère] Malebranche’s Opinion of Seeing All Things in God”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:

     One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis.

5. To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; with on, upon, or against.
   • 1680, John Dryden, “The Preface to Ovid’s Epistles”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     It ſeems more probable that Ovid vvas either the Confident of ſome other paſſion, or that he had ſtumbled by ſome inadvertency, upon the privacies of Livia, and ſeen her in a Bath: […]

   • 1754, Christopher Smart, Snake:

     Forth as she waddled in the brake, / A grey goose stumbled on a snake.

Derived terms

• stumble across
• stumble against
• stumble-drunk
• stumble into
• stumble on
• stumble onto
• stumble upon

Translations

to trip or fall

• Arabic: عَثَرَ (ʕaṯara)

  Moroccan Arabic: عتر (ʕtar), تعتر (tʕattar)

• Bulgarian: спъвам се (spǎvam se), препъвам се (prepǎvam se)
• Catalan: ensopegar (ca), fer un pas en fals, entrebancar-se (ca), entrepassegar (ca), entropessar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 绊倒 (zh) (bàndǎo)

• Czech: zakopnout (cs) pf, klopýtnout pf
• Danish: snuble
• Dutch: struikelen (nl), strompelen (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḥꜣḥꜣ)
• Esperanto: stumbli (eo), falpuŝiĝi, faleti (trip without falling)
• Faroese: snáva
• Finnish: kompastua (fi), kompuroida (fi)
• French: trébucher (fr), faire un faux pas (fr), broncher (fr)
• Galician: tropezar, embelecar
• German: stolpern (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 (gastigqan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πταίω (ptaíō)

• Hungarian: botlik (hu), megbotlik (hu), belebotlik (hu), átesik (hu)
• Icelandic: hnjóta
• Ido: mispazar (io), butar (io), pedobutar (io), faletar (io)
• Irish: tuisligh
• Italian: scivolare (it), inciampare (it), imbattersi (it), incontrare (it)
• Korean: 넘어질 뻔하다 (neomeojil ppeonhada)
• Latvian: klupt
• Maltese: għotor
• Maori: tapepa, tūtuki, tatu, tatutu
• Norman: trébutchi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: snuble

  Nynorsk: snubla

• Oromo: gufachuu
• Persian: سکرفیدن (fa) (sekarfidan)
• Polish: potykać się (pl) impf, potknąć się (pl) pf
• Portuguese: tropeçar (pt), topar (pt), esbarrar (pt), bater com um obstáculo
• Quechua: mitk'ay
• Russian: спотыка́ться (ru) (spotykátʹsja), оступа́ться (ru) (ostupátʹsja)
• Slovak: zakopnúť pf, potknúť sa pf
• Spanish: tropezar (es), topar (es), dar traspiés (es), dar un mal paso, dar un paso en falso, trastabillar (es)
• Swedish: snubbla (sv), snava (sv)
• Tocharian B: trāpp-
• Turkish: tökezlemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: спотика́тися impf (spotykátysja), спіткнутися pf (spitknutysja), спотикнутися pf (spotyknutysja)
• Walloon: si trebouxhî (wa), estrebukî (wa)

to walk clumsily

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蹒跚而行

• German: staksen (de)
• Hungarian: botladozik (hu), botorkál (hu), tántorog (hu), támolyog (hu), vánszorog (hu), (to a place) betéved (hu)
• Italian: incespicare
• Spanish: caminar torpemente

to make a mistake or have trouble

• Bulgarian: греша (bg) (greša)
• Catalan: entrebancar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 犯错 (zh) (fàncuò)

• Danish: fejle, begå fejl
• Esperanto: stumbli (eo)
• Hungarian: megbicsaklik (hu), belebicsaklik, akadozik (hu)
• Italian: sbagliarsi (it)
• Korean: 넘어질 뻔하다 (neomeojil ppeonhada)
• Maori: tapepe
• Portuguese: tropeçar (pt), cometer um erro
• Russian: ошиба́ться (ru) (ošibátʹsja), оступа́ться (ru) (ostupátʹsja)
• Spanish: tropezar (es), errar (es), atrancarse (es), trabar (es), tartamudear (es), trastabillar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} butar (io)

See also

• stumbling block

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “stumble”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• tumbles