bungle

She wasn’t about to bungle the sighting for her client, a photographer who’d flown to Africa for this exact moment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Add the examples from psychology and the bungle we're making of the Earth we "manage," and humans don't have good evidence to put ourselves at the top of some kind of evolutionary hierarchy after all.

From Salon ● May 29, 2025

So, yes, let’s hold college presidents’ feet to the fire when they bungle on a major issue.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2023

Farmer: I thought the Chargers might lose, as we’ve seen before, but they had the good fortune of playing an opponent that also has a tendency to bungle victories within their grasp.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023

“Seems simple, don’t it? But I’m sure you’ll find a way to bungle it. ”

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

Just think of the rows and bungles of the last seven weeks.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025

Charlotte and George marry, then George immediately bungles their budding marital bliss.

From Salon ● May 6, 2023

But if those were my worst bungles in 12 months, I’ll settle for them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2023

Among the other bungles that the inspector general found were duplicate payments in which someone’s filing status or filing partner changed from 2019 to 2020, and payments that were sent to U.S. territories.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 25, 2022

She turns; and see, she stoops and bungles In through the sand-shoes' hanging jungles, Away from light and common sense, Into the shop dim-lit and dense With smells of polish and tanned hide.

From Georgian Poetry 1920-22 by Sir Edward Howard Marsh

On the hard-news side, she bungled big moments like an interview with Vladimir Putin, who batted away her questions about 2016 election meddling with an exasperated performance of ignorance.

From Slate ● May 6, 2026

Her claims have triggered demonstrations, promises to tighten the law and criticism that Chancellor Friedrich Merz has bungled his response.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

On the bungled hiring of a management team whose role was not entirely clear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025

After another bungled team performance from McLaren, Max Verstappen is now within reach of what seemed to be an improbable fifth consecutive drivers' world championship.

From Barron's ● Dec. 1, 2025

“A problem is nothing more than a tiny machine whose insides are all bungled up needing repair,” he'd told her once.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

The diplomat, John Barrett, told a Colombian reporter that Washington had “a great deal of confidence…in the local authorities,” vouching for the Rodríguez government even as many Venezuelans accused it of bungling the response.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

The Lions completed a historic comeback, with a little help from a bungling David Campese.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2025

Funneled into the framework of a prom slasher, the bungling of "Fear Street: Prom Queen" feels downright pernicious.

From Salon ● May 24, 2025

Thao was accused of bungling the city’s finances, contributing to a budget shortfall that will almost certainly require sweeping cuts across government departments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025

Comstock, the Oklahoma lawyer who had served as the guardian to several Osage, had personally briefed Senator Curtis on the bureau’s catastrophic bungling.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann