bungle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an embarrassing mistake
    botch; boo-boo; flub; blooper; blunder; foul-up; pratfall; boner; fuckup; bloomer.
  2. verb make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    muck up; foul up; blow; botch up; botch; bollix; fumble; mishandle; bollocks; bumble; ball up; bobble; bollocks up; spoil; bollix up; fuck up; fluff; flub; bodge; muff; louse up; mess up; screw up.
    • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
    • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
  3. verb spoil by behaving clumsily or foolishly
    • I bungled it!

WordNet

Bun"gle intransitive verb
Etymology
Prob. a diminutive from, akin to bang; cf. Prov. G. bungen to beat, bang, OSw. bunga. See Bang.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Bungled ; present participle & verbal noun Bungling
Definitions
  1. To act or work in a clumsy, awkward manner.
Bun"gle transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make or mend clumsily; to manage awkwardly; to botch; -- sometimes with up.
    I always had an idea that it would be bungled. Byron.
Bun"gle noun
Definitions
  1. A clumsy or awkward performance; a botch; a gross blunder.
    Those errors and bungles which are committed. Cudworth.

Webster 1913