flub

American  

[fluhb] / flʌb /

verb (used with or without object)

flubbed, flubbing

1. to perform poorly; blunder; bungle.

   He flubbed the last shot and lost the match.

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noun

1. a blunder.

flub British  

/ flʌb /

noun

1. an embarrassing mistake or blunder

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verb

1. (intr) to blunder or make an embarrassing mistake

Other Word Forms

• flubber noun

Etymology

Origin of flub

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

It was the sort of public flub that might have derailed any other startup, but it was quickly forgotten as Musk moved on to his next viral moment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 4, 2026

It wouldn’t be a 2024 campaign event without a verbal flub, and Trump delivered, calling the crowd “hard-working patri-isch-tic” before giving up on the sentence and moving on.

From Salon • May 24, 2024

“When I see somebody make a flub on TV, I’m really not all that concerned,” said well-known aging researcher S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 10, 2024

In the widely circulated videos of King's performance, the 34-year-old singer seemed to flub the lyrics to Parton's song.

From Salon • Jan. 22, 2024

Second, the two elements being compared should be grammatically and semantically parallel, a requirement that’s easy to flub when the first is complex.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker