Word.ws English Dictionary

shambling

/ˈʃæmblɪŋ/

shambling is the present participle and gerund of shamble.

Meaning of shamble

Verb

shamble (third-person singular simple present shambles, present participle shambling, simple past and past participle shambled)

  1. To walk while shuffling or dragging the feet.
    • I wasn't too impressed with the fellow, when he shambled in unenthusiastically and an hour late.
    Synonyms:
    shuffle, stagger

See all 3 meanings of shamble

Adjective

shambling (comparative more shambling, superlative most shambling)

  1. Who walks while dragging or shuffling the feet.
    • moving with a shambling gait
    • a shambling giant of a man

Noun

shambling (plural shamblings)

  1. An awkward, irregular gait.

Forms of shambling

Adjective
comparativemore shambling
superlativemost shambling
Noun
pluralshamblings

Words formed from shambling

Words that rhyme with shambling

Questions about shambling

What does shambling mean?
Shambling means who walks while dragging or shuffling the feet.
What is shambling the present participle and gerund of?
Shambling is the present participle and gerund of shamble.
What part of speech is shambling?
Shambling can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce shambling?
Shambling is pronounced /ˈʃæmblɪŋ/.

Words near shambling in the dictionary

  1. shambled
  2. shambler
  3. shamblers
  4. shambles
  5. Shamblin
  6. shambling
  7. shamblingly
  8. shamblings
  9. Shamblins
  10. shambly
  11. shambo

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shambling (page history and authors); shamble (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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Cite this entry: “shambling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shambling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.