BLUNDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does blunder mean? 

• BLUNDER (noun)
  The noun BLUNDER has 1 sense:

1. an embarrassing mistake

  Familiarity information: BLUNDER used as a noun is very rare.

• BLUNDER (verb)
  The verb BLUNDER has 3 senses:

1. commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

2. make one's way clumsily or blindly

3. utter impulsively

  Familiarity information: BLUNDER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLUNDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An embarrassing mistake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

bloomer; blooper; blunder; boner; boo-boo; botch; bungle; flub; foul-up; fuckup; pratfall

Hypernyms ("blunder" is a kind of...):

error; fault; mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blunder"):

bobble (the momentary juggling of a batted or thrown baseball)

snafu (an acronym often used by soldiers in World War II: situation normal all fucked up)

spectacle (a blunder that makes you look ridiculous; used in the phrase 'make a spectacle of' yourself)

bull (a serious and ludicrous blunder)

fumble; muff ((sports) dropping the ball)

fluff (a blunder (especially an actor's forgetting the lines))

faux pas; gaffe; gaucherie; slip; solecism (a socially awkward or tactless act)

howler (a glaring blunder)

clanger (a conspicuous mistake whose effects seem to reverberate)

misstep; stumble; trip; trip-up (an unintentional but embarrassing blunder)

Derivation:

blunder (commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake)

• BLUNDER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they blunder    ... he / she / it blunders   
Past simple: blundered   
Past participle: blundered   
-ing form: blundering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

blunder; boob; drop the ball; goof; sin

Context example:

I blundered during the job interview

Hypernyms (to "blunder" is one way to...):

breach; break; go against; infract; offend; transgress; violate (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

blunder (an embarrassing mistake)

blunderer (someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make one's way clumsily or blindly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

blunder; fumble

Context example:

He fumbled towards the door

Hypernyms (to "blunder" is one way to...):

pass (go across or through)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Utter impulsively

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

blunder; blunder out; blurt; blurt out; ejaculate

Context example:

He blundered his stupid ideas

Hypernyms (to "blunder" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

 Context examples 

It was by sheer blundering that he chanced upon the shrewdly hidden ptarmigan nest.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This was the pride that bore up Spitz and made him thrash the sled-dogs who blundered and shirked in the traces or hid away at harness-up time in the morning.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The despairing way in which my mother and I look at each other, as I blunder on, is truly melancholy.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They ought to have told me, and not let me go blundering and scolding, when I should have been more kind and patient than ever.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“I cannot at the moment recall any possible blunder which you have omitted. The total effect of your proceeding has been to give the alarm everywhere and yet to discover nothing.”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Life is, I think, a blunder and a shame. It is—a blunder and a shame."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“I assure you it is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you to blunder over a commission.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Unconscious of my blunder, I passed by Wolf Larsen and the hunter and flung the ashes over the side to windward.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Now, jump in, and let us see if I can repair the consequences of my own blunder.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)