bungle
bung·le/ˈbʌŋɡ(ə)l/verb, noun
bungle is spelled B-U-N-G-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (bung·le). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bungle means “To incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bungle?
| Letters | 6: B-U-N-G-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bung·le |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,714th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bungle?
Bungle appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bungle?
- US /ˈbʌŋɡ(ə)l/
Bungle has 2 syllables, split bung·le in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bungle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bungle
- bungles present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- bungling participle, present
- bungled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bungle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent action; to botch up, to bumble.
- 2
To act or work incompetently; to fumble.
noun
- 1
A botched or incompetently handled action or situation; a blunder.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bungle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to incompetently perform (a task); to ruin (something) through incompetent actio:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rater, foirer |
| German | vergeigen, verkorksen, vermurksen, verpatzen, versemmeln |
| Portuguese | atrapalhar-se |
| Spanish | embarullar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.