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Misstep vs Stumble - What's the difference?

misstep | stumble |

As nouns the difference between misstep and stumble

is that misstep is a step that is wrong, a false step while stumble is a fall, trip or substantial misstep.

As verbs the difference between misstep and stumble

is that misstep is to step badly or incorrectly while stumble is to trip or fall; to walk clumsily.

misstep

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A step that is wrong, a false step.
    • On a high ledge, a misstep could be fatal.
  • *
    • burdened as he was, he did not think of length or height or toil. He remembered only to avoid a misstep and to keep his direction.
  • (figurative) An error or mistake.
    • His comment was a misstep that could cost him.

    Synonyms

    * (error) error, faux pas, mistake

    Verb

  • to step badly or incorrectly
    • My dance partner misstepped and landed on my toe.
  • to make an error or mistake
    • I don't want to misstep ; is this the right way?

    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

    * * * *

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    *