Meaning & use
blunder
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Meanings
nouncountable
A serious mistake caused by carelessness or poor judgment, often one that embarrasses or harms people.
Grammar: Countable: make a blunder, a costly blunder.
Patterns
- make a blunder
- a blunder by someone
Forgetting to back up the files was a costly blunder.
The minister's blunder during the interview was repeated on every news show.
Sending the invitation to the wrong list was an embarrassing blunder.
verbintransitive
To make a bad mistake through carelessness or lack of thought.
Grammar: No object: the manager blundered; often followed by into or through.
Patterns
- blunder into something
- blunder through something
The company blundered by raising its prices just before the holidays.
I blundered into a meeting I was not invited to.
The team blundered through the project without a plan.
verbintransitive
To move in a clumsy, uncertain way, as if unable to see where one is going.
Grammar: No object; usually with a direction word: he blundered about in the dark.
Patterns
- blunder about
- blunder into something
She blundered around the dark kitchen looking for the light switch.
The tired hikers blundered along the path until sunrise.
Word forms
| plural | blunders |
|---|---|
| third person singular | blunders |
| past tense | blundered |
| past participle | blundered |
| -ing form | blundering |
Common combinations
- make a blunder
- Anyone can make a blunder when they are tired.
- a costly blunder
- Ignoring the safety checks proved a costly blunder.
- a diplomatic blunder
- The remark was a diplomatic blunder that angered the host country.
- a huge blunder
- Selling the shares so early was a huge blunder.
- blunder into
- The tourists blundered into a private garden.
- a tactical blunder
- Moving the queen there was a tactical blunder in the chess match.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mistake
- Mistake is the neutral, everyday word, whereas blunder suggests a bigger error that comes from carelessness and has results.
- gaffe
- A gaffe is a social or verbal slip that causes embarrassment, while a blunder can involve any action and bigger consequences.
- error
- Error is formal and often technical, and it carries no sense of clumsiness or embarrassment.
- howler
- A howler is an obvious, laughable mistake, usually a spoken or written one, and is more informal than blunder.
Opposites
Word family
- blunderer noun
- a person who often makes careless mistakes
- blundering adjective
- clumsy or likely to make mistakes
Commonly confused: blunder or blunt?
blunder vs blunt
Blunt means not sharp or very direct in speech, and it has nothing to do with making mistakes.
Practice
Leaving the oven on all night while the family was away was a serious ______.
Choose one answer.
A blunder is a careless, serious mistake. Blessing, bargain and benefit are all positive things, which does not fit an oven left on.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “blunder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.