Meanings
fumble1
present singular third person fumbles · participle present fumbling · participle past fumbled · past fumbled · alternative dialectal obsolete famble · alternative dialectal obsolete fimble
- intransitivetransitiveTo grope awkwardly in trying to find something
He fumbled for his keys.
2 more examples
He fumbled his way to the light-switch.
Adams novv began to fumble in his Pockets, and ſoon cried out, O la! I have it [a sermon] not about me— […]
1742, Henry Fielding, “In which the Gentleman Relates the History of His Life”, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III, page 52Synonyms: grubble
- To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly.
to fumble for an excuse
2 more examples
My understanding stutters, and my memory fumbles.
1711 August 12, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, letter to Dr. ChevenixAlas! how he fumbles about the domains.
1800, Wordsworth, Written in Germany on one of the coldest days of the century - To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.
I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers.
1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]
plural fumbles · alternative dialectal obsolete famble · alternative dialectal obsolete fimble
fumble2
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo grope awkwardly in trying to find something
More synonyms by meaning
verbmake a mess of, destroy or ruin
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
fumble · verb, noun
- Proto-Indo-European*pal-“to shake, swing”
- Dutchfommelen
- Low Germanfummeln
- Englishfumble
From late Middle English, from Low German fummeln, fommeln, fammeln (German fummeln), or Dutch fommelen. Or, perhaps from a Scandinavian/North Germanic source; compare related Old Norse fálma, Icelandic fálma, Danish fumle, especially Swedish fumla, famla, with variants: fumbla (“fumble”), fambla (“famble”), related to Swedish fim, fem (Danish fim, Norwegian fim, feima), with a root meaning of “cover, coating of foam or figuratively ditto”, cognate to German Feim (“surf”) and English foam. Possibly has (a more or less unconscious) connection to fathom (via Old Norse faðmr, Swedish famn) in the sense of “embrace”. The ultimate origin for either could perhaps be imitative of fumbling. Or, from Proto-Indo-European *pal- (“to shake, swing”), see also Latin palpo (“to pat, touch softly”), and possibly Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan (“to feel”).
More words from Low German, Dutch, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian бърникам, тършувам
- бърникам (bărnikam)to handle nervously or awkwardly
- тършувам (tăršuvam)to grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- изпускам (izpuskam)to drop a ball or a baton etc
Chinese Mandarin 摸索
- 摸索 (mōsuǒ, mōsuo)to handle nervously or awkwardly
Danish fumle
- fumleto handle nervously or awkwardly
Esperanto fuŝpalpi
- fuŝpalpito handle nervously or awkwardly
Finnish hamuilla, hapuilla
- hamuillato handle nervously or awkwardly
- hapuillato handle nervously or awkwardly
- hamuillato grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- hapuillato grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- munatato blunder uncertainly
- möhlätäto blunder uncertainly
- sählätäto drop a ball or a baton etc
French tripoter, tâtonner
- tripoterto handle nervously or awkwardly
- tâtonnerto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
German fummeln, patzen
- fummelnto handle nervously or awkwardly
- patzento drop a ball or a baton etc
- Fumbleaccidental dropping of a ball
Hungarian babrál, matat
- babrálto handle nervously or awkwardly
- matatto handle nervously or awkwardly
- kotorászikto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- keresgélto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- tapogatózikto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- tapogatto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- ügyetlenkedikto blunder uncertainly
- akadozikto blunder uncertainly
- hebegto blunder uncertainly
- habogto blunder uncertainly
- hebeg-habogto blunder uncertainly
- dadogto blunder uncertainly
Icelandic fálma
- fálmato grope awkwardly in trying to find something
Indonesian meraba-raba
- meraba-rabato grope awkwardly in trying to find something
Italian giocherellare, armeggiare
- giocherellareto handle nervously or awkwardly
- armeggiareto handle nervously or awkwardly
- annaspareto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- frugareto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- farfugliareto blunder uncertainly
- balbettareto blunder uncertainly
Japanese いじり回す, 探り回す
- いじり回す (ijirimawasu)to handle nervously or awkwardly
- 探り回す (sagarimawasu)to grope awkwardly in trying to find something
Māori pakihawa, whāwhā
- pakihawato handle nervously or awkwardly
- whāwhāto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- hārauto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- ninipato blunder uncertainly
- pakihawato blunder uncertainly
Norwegian Bokmål fomle
- fomleto handle nervously or awkwardly
Polish szperać
- szperaćto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
Russian мять, тереби́ть
- мять (mjatʹ)to handle nervously or awkwardly
- тереби́ть (terebítʹ)to handle nervously or awkwardly
- нащу́пывать (naščúpyvatʹ)to grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- ша́рить (šáritʹ)to grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- мя́млить (mjámlitʹ)to blunder uncertainly
Spanish manosear, tanatear
- manosearto handle nervously or awkwardly
- tanatearto handle nervously or awkwardly
- meter la patato handle nervously or awkwardly
- manosearto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- tanatearto grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- titubearto blunder uncertainly
- perderto drop a ball or a baton etc
- soltarto drop a ball or a baton etc
- dejar caerto drop a ball or a baton etc
- escaparseto drop a ball or a baton etc
- cantarto drop a ball or a baton etc
Swedish fjockla, famla
- fjocklato handle nervously or awkwardly
- famlato grope awkwardly in trying to find something
- fumla sigto blunder uncertainly
- fumlato blunder uncertainly
Ukrainian намацувати
- намацувати (namacuvaty)to grope awkwardly in trying to find something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fumble
All rhymes →Cite this entry
fumble. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fumble
“fumble.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fumble. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fumble,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fumble.
Source: fumble on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.