bungling

adjective

bun·​gling ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)liŋ 

: clumsily awkward or inept

a bungling attempt at humor

… her complaints about bungling doctors and mean-spirited nurses …

—Michiko Kakutani

bunglingly adverb

a bunglingly inept investigation

Synonyms

• awkward
• botched
• clumsy
• fumbled
• inept
• inexpert
• maladroit

Examples of bungling in a Sentence

I refuse to let that bungling incompetent insult me again

Word History

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined above