bungle

verb

bun·​gle ˈbəŋ-gəl 

bungled; bungling ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

: to act or work clumsily and awkwardly

bungled badly in the campaign

transitive verb

: mishandle, botch

bungle a job

bungled the investigation

bungle noun

bungler

ˈbəŋ-g(ə-)lər 

noun

Synonyms

• blow
• bobble
• boggle
• bollix (up)
• boot
• botch
• bugger (up)
• bumble
• butcher
• dub
• flub
• fluff
• foozle
• foul up
• fumble
• goof (up)
• louse up
• mangle
• mess (up)
• muck up
• muff
• murder
• screw up

Examples of bungle in a Sentence

The government bungled badly in planning the campaign.

bungled the job the first time she tried to do it

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, the robbery sent an Oklahoma sheriff’s posse and bloodhounds after these bungling desperados. —Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2025

In a late January letter to Hochul, Torres accused her of bungling oversight of New York’s early intervention program for toddlers with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome. —David Mark, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Feb. 2025

Yet cops and doctors still bungled the follow-up and compounded the survivor’s distress. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025

Gaga hasn’t released a pop album since 2020’s Chromatica, which saw its release strategy get bungled by the pandemic. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Icelandic banga to hammer

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for bungle

• antifungal
• fungal
• jungle

Kids Definition

bungle

verb

bun·​gle ˈbəŋ-gəl 

bungled; bungling -g(ə-)liŋ 

: to act, do, make, or work badly

bungle a job

bungle noun

bungler

-g(ə-)ler 

noun