blunder
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to move or act blindly, stupidly, or without direction or steady guidance.
Without my glasses I blundered into the wrong room.
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to make a gross or stupid mistake, especially through carelessness or mental confusion.
Just pray that he doesn't blunder again and get the names wrong.
verb (used with object)
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to bungle; botch.
Several of the accounts were blundered by that new assistant.
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to utter thoughtlessly; blurt out.
He blundered his surprise at their winning the award.
noun
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a stupid or clumsy mistake
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a foolish tactless remark
verb
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to make stupid or clumsy mistakes
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to make foolish tactless remarks
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to act clumsily; stumble
he blundered into a situation he knew nothing about
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(tr) to mismanage; botch
Related Words
See mistake.
Other Word Forms
- blunderer noun
- blundering noun
- blunderingly adverb
- nonblundering adjective
- nonblunderingly adverb
- outblunder verb (used with object)
- superblunder noun
- unblundering adjective
Etymology
Origin of blunder
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English blunderen, blondren (verb), from Old Norse blunda “to shut one's eyes, nap”; compare Norwegian dialect blundra
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The narrator creates a small scandal by jokingly telling the story of his transcription blunder.
It is not the first time there has been an order blunder in Orkney in recent years.
From BBC
Will they have the baserunning blunders, the bullpen breakdowns, the terrible at-bats?
From Los Angeles Times
"This is a very expensive blunder," said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and head of West Coast Trial Lawyers, who used to represent Disney.
From BBC
Maybe not switching sooner was a blunder, but you are on the right track to correcting that.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
