noun / verb
blunder
BLUHN-der/ˈblʌndər/
To proceed clumsily and make careless mistakes.
The adult blunders into the meeting, spilling a trayful of papers.
Etymology
The early noun meant ‘disturbance’ or ‘trouble’ and apparently came from a verb meaning ‘stumble about blindly.’ Its later mistake sense connects confused, unguided movement with errors made through hurry or confusion.
In context
astronomers in the 1920s and '30s concluded that the universe wasn't static at all, but expanding, he dropped his cosmological constant, and is said to have called it his "biggest blunder."
More examples
- The careless blunder delayed the shipment.
- She blundered through the unfamiliar instructions.
- Several accounting blunders inflated the final total.
Forms
blunder · blunders · blundered · blundering