fumbleverb
uk/ˈfʌm.bəl/us/ˈfʌm.bəl/fumble verb (DO STH AWKWARDLY)
[ I usually + adv/prep ] to do something awkwardly, especially when using your hands:
I fumbled with the lock.
He fumbled in his pockets for some change.
She fumbled around/about in her handbag, looking for her key.
They fumbled around/about (= moved awkwardly) in the dark, trying to find their way out of the cinema.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Inability and awkwardness
- accident-prone
- all thumbs idiom
- amateurish
- at your worst idiom
- awkward
- boil
- gauche
- geek
- ham-fisted
- have nothing on sb or sth idiom
- have two left feet idiom
- incapacitate
- nerd
- no great shakes idiom
- not have a prayer idiom
- obey
- organize
- paralysed
- prone
- rubbish
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fumble verb (SPORT)
[ I,T ] in sport, to fail to catch a ball:
If Wilson hadn't fumbled that catch, we might have won the match.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Failing and doing badly
- at-risk
- backbencher
- balls-up
- be running on empty idiom
- beat a dead horse idiom
- crack
- crash
- draw
- fail
- fall apart
- flunk out
- fray around/at the edges idiom
- get off on the right/wrong foot idiom
- give up on sb/sth
- go against sb
- sink like a stone idiom 1
- sink like a stone
- so much for sth idiom
- stagnate
- strike out
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fumble verb (THINK OF A WORD)
[ I usually + adv/prep ] to have difficulty saying or thinking of suitable words:
I was fumbling for the right word.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Experiencing difficulties
- be
- be (caught) between a rock and a hard place idiom
- be climbing the walls idiom
- be for the high jump idiom
- be/come up against a brick wall idiom
- creek
- difficulty
- embattled
- fall into sth
- flounder
- frying pan
- leg
- out of the frying pan into the fire idiom
- patch
- pickle
- pressed
- pushed
- ride
- rocky road idiom
- thin
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