stumble
/ˈstʌmbəl/noun, verb
stumble is spelled S-T-U-M-B-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stumble means “A fall, trip or substantial misstep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stumble is stumbles.
How many letters and syllables are in stumble?
| Letters | 7: S-T-U-M-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,687th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is stumble?
Stumble appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th 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 stumble?
- /ˈstʌmbəl/
- /ˈstʊmbəl/
Stumble has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-stumble.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of stumble
- stumbles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- stumbling participle, present
- stumbled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stumble mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A fall, trip or substantial misstep.
- 2
An error or blunder.
- 3
A clumsy walk.
verb
- 1
To misstep; to walk or run clumsily; to trip or fall.
He stumbled over a rock.
- 2
To make mistakes, to have trouble.
I always stumble over verbs in Spanish.
- 3
To cause to stumble or trip.
- 4
To mislead, to cause to err or fall.
- 5
To make a discovery unexpectedly or accidentally; to chance, come, or happen (upon a person or thing) (with onto, across, on, upon).
We stumbled onto the answer without even trying.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stumble in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chute, faux pas , bourde , trébucher, faire un faux pas, broncher |
| German | Stolpern, Fehltritt , Fehler, Schnitzer, Ausrutscher, Patzer |
| Portuguese | tropeço , tropeçar, topar, esbarrar, bater com um obstáculo , cometer um erro |
| Spanish | tropezón, traspié, trompezón , desliz, torpeza, tropiezo |
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.
Where does stumble come from?
Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stam- (“to trip up; to stammer, stutter”), thereby related to German stumm (“mute”), Dutch stom (“dumb”). Doublet of stammer. Also related to verb in Dutch stommelen (“to walk silently”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).