Stumble vs Fumble - What's the difference?

stumble | fumble |

Fumble is a synonym of stumble.

In intransitive terms the difference between stumble and fumble

is that stumble is to make a mistake or have trouble while fumble is to blunder uncertainly.

stumble

English

Noun

(en noun)

A fall, trip or substantial misstep.

An error or blunder.

A clumsy walk.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The new masters and commanders , passage=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

Verb

(stumbl)

To trip or fall; to walk clumsily.

* Sir Walter Scott

He stumbled up the dark avenue.

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=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.}}

To make a mistake or have trouble.

To cause to stumble or trip.

(figurative) To mislead; to confound; to cause to err or to fall.

* Milton

False and dazzling fires to stumble men.

* John Locke

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

To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; with on'', ''upon'', or ''against .

* Dryden

Ovid stumbled , by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath.

* C. Smart

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

Derived terms

* * * *

Anagrams

fumble

English

Verb

(fumbl)

(intransitive) To idly touch or nervously handle

Waiting for the interview, he fumbled with his tie.

He fumbled the key into the lock.

* {{quote-news

, year=2010 , date=December 28 , author=Owen Phillips , title=Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Henderson's best strike on goal saw goalkeeper Kingson uncomfortably fumble his measured shot around the post.}}

(intransitive) To grope awkwardly in trying to find something

He fumbled for his keys.

He fumbled his way to the light-switch.

* Fielding

Adams now began to fumble in his pockets.

To blunder uncertainly.

He fumbled through his prepared speech.

To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly.

to fumble for an excuse

* Chesterfield

My understanding flutters and my memory fumbles .

* Wordsworth

Alas! how he fumbles about the domains.

(transitive, intransitive, sports) To drop a ball or a baton etc.

To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.

* Shakespeare

I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers.

Noun

(en noun)

(sports) A ball etc. that has been dropped