Meaning & use
bungle
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To do a job so clumsily or carelessly that it goes wrong.
Grammar: Usually takes an object: bungle the job; it can also stand alone: he bungled badly.
Patterns
- bungle something
- bungle a job
The workers bungled the repair and flooded the kitchen.
He bungled the interview by forgetting the company's name.
The goalkeeper bungled and let the ball roll in.
nouncountableinformal
A badly handled attempt or a clumsy mistake.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase make a bungle of something.
Patterns
- a bungle of something
The press called the policy a bungle from start to finish.
She made a bungle of the order and sent it to the wrong city.
Word forms
| third person singular | bungles |
|---|---|
| past tense | bungled |
| past participle | bungled |
| -ing form | bungling |
Common combinations
- bungle a job
- Don't bungle the job by rushing.
- bungle an attempt
- The thieves bungled their attempt to open the safe.
- bungle the landing
- The pilot bungled the landing but no one was hurt.
- bungle the investigation
- Police bungled the investigation from the start.
- bungled attempt
- The bungled attempt embarrassed the whole department.
Synonyms and how they differ
- botch
- Botch is very close in meaning but stresses a messy, poorly finished result.
- fumble
- Fumble suggests clumsy handling, as of a ball, and is less harsh than bungle.
- mess up
- Mess up is the casual phrasal verb and can describe small errors.
- blunder
- Blunder suggests a serious mistake of judgment rather than clumsy technique.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: bungle or bundle?
bungle vs bundle
A bundle is a group of things tied or wrapped together; bungle means to do something badly.
Practice
The thieves ____ the robbery by setting off the alarm before they even reached the safe.
Choose one answer.
Bungled means carried out badly, which fits setting off the alarm. Bundled is a confusable word that sounds close but means tied together.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bungle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.