bungle
Syllables: bung·le/ˈbʌŋɡ(ə)l/
bungle verb: to incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
Verb
bungle (third-person singular simple present bungles, present participle bungling, simple past and past participle bungled)
- To incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
- I always had an idea that it would be bungled; but was willing to hope, and am still so. Whatever I can do by money, means, or person, I will venture freely for their freedom; and have so repeated to them (some of the Chiefs here) half an hour ago.1821 February 24, Lord Byron, “Extracts from a Diary of Lord Byron, 1821”, in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: […], Frankfurt am Main: […] H. L. Brönner, published 1830, →OCLC, page 468, column 1
- […] talking in voices that, almost without exception, sounded collegiately dogmatic, as though each young man, in his strident, conversational turn, was clearing up, once and for all, some highly controversial issue, one that the outside, non-matriculating world had been bungling, provocatively or...1955, J. D. Salinger, “Franny”, in Franny and Zooey, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, published 1991, →ISBN, page 3
- To act or work incompetently; to fumble.
- Physis is nothing else but the vegetable World, the Universall comprehension of Spermaticall life dispersed throughout. […] For Physis (as I said) is not the divine Understanding it self, but is as if you should conceive, an Artificers imagination separate from the Artificer, and left alone to work...1647, Henry More, “[Philosophical Poems.] Notes upon Psychozoia.”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Poems of Dr. Henry More (1614–1687) […] (Chertsey Worthies’ Library)...
- [T]he trooper fails to fasten the brooch. His hand shakes, he is nervous, and it falls off. "Would any one believe this?" says he, catching it as it drops and looking round. "I am so out of sorts that I bungle at an easy job like this!"1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Dutiful Friendship”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, pages 474–475
- Synonyms:
- blunder
Noun
bungle (plural bungles)
- A botched or incompetently handled action or situation; a blunder.
- VVherefore this Religious affection vvhich nature has implanted, and as ſtrongly rooted in Man as the feare of death or the love of vvomen, vvould be the moſt enormous ſlip or bungle ſhe could commit, ſo that ſhe vvould ſo ſhamefully faile in the laſt Act, in this contrivance of the nature of Man...1653, Henry More, chapter XII, in An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC, book II...
- The second figure [of the dance] commenced, and I made a sad bungle; so I did of the third, and fourth, and fifth, for I never had danced a cotillon.1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XII, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 200
bungle meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
bungle in Tamil
- குளறுபடி செய், செயற் குளறுபடி, செயற்குளறுபடி, சொதப்பு
bungle in Urdu
- گھپلا کرنا
bungle in Malayalam
- ഫലസിദ്ധിയില്ലാത്ത പ്രവൃത്തി, അബദ്ധം
bungle in Kannada
- ತಪ್ಪುಮಾಡು, ಅಡ್ಡಾದಿಡ್ಡಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡು, ಹೊಲೆಗೆಡಿಸು, ಅತಂತ್ರವಾಗಿಸು, ಅಡ್ಡಾದಿಡ್ಡಿಗೊಳಿಸು
Synonyms of bungle
24 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of bungle
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | bungles |
| present participle | bungling |
| past participle | bungled |
| past | bungled |
| Noun | |
| plural | bungles |
Origin of bungle
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is either: * onomatopoeic in origin (compare bumble (“to act in an inept, clumsy or inexpert manner; to make mistakes”), fumble (“to grope awkwardly in trying to find something; to blunder uncertainly”)); or * from Old Norse; compare Old Swedish bunga (“to strike”), and dialectal Swedish bangla (“to work ineffectually”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * German Bengel (“cudgel; rude fellow”) * Middle High German bungen (“to hammer”)
Words formed from bungle
- bungled
- bungler
- bunglery
- bunglesome
- bungling
- bunglingly
Words that rhyme with bungle
Questions about bungle
- What does bungle mean?
- Bungle means to incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
- What is bungle in Tamil?
- Bungle in Tamil is குளறுபடி செய், செயற் குளறுபடி, செயற்குளறுபடி. See Bungle meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is bungle?
- Bungle can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce bungle?
- Bungle is pronounced /ˈbʌŋɡ(ə)l/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of bungle?
- The past tense of bungle is bungled.
Words near bungle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bungle (page history and authors); bungle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bungle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bungle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bungle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bungle.wav.
Cite this entry: “bungle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bungle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.