as in lumbering
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as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
disconsolate and exhausted after losing the match, the wrestler shambled toward the locker room
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shambling
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2026
One rarely gains a sense of what people look like (beyond the son’s bulky physique and shambling movements, in which the mother ‘caught a flash of her brother’).
—
Dan Sheehan,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
These movies—including the seven-hour-long Sátántangó, a centerpiece of which is a shambling dance in a barroom—often swap the meandering sentence for a single camera shot that lasts 10 minutes or more.
—
Walt Hunter,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Once the beyond-the-grave comeuppance arrives, this short is just standard shambling ghouls and raining blood.
—
A.a. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
The shambling Cliff and the spiky Didi make for an odd couple.
—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
The Walking Dead keeps shambling along, now splintered into a bunch of pretty lackluster spinoffs.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
With almost no plan, Sonny makes a shambling attempt at an armed robbery, only to end up trapped in the bank with the manager and five female tellers as his hostages.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2026
One rarely gains a sense of what people look like (beyond the son’s bulky physique and shambling movements, in which the mother ‘caught a flash of her brother’).
—
Dan Sheehan,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
These movies—including the seven-hour-long Sátántangó, a centerpiece of which is a shambling dance in a barroom—often swap the meandering sentence for a single camera shot that lasts 10 minutes or more.
—
Walt Hunter,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Once the beyond-the-grave comeuppance arrives, this short is just standard shambling ghouls and raining blood.
—
A.a. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
The shambling Cliff and the spiky Didi make for an odd couple.
—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
Julian’s shambling charm wears her down, the elder statesman challenging his younger peer’s view on their industry.
—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
The Walking Dead keeps shambling along, now splintered into a bunch of pretty lackluster spinoffs.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shambling
Adjective
-
The Cubs players continued to taunt Ruth at every opportunity, and a big one came their way in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jurges slashed a sinking liner into right field and the lumbering, top-heavy Babe muffed a shoestring catch.
Verb
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Enola dutifully trudges between clues and possibilities, shuffling through crime scenes and racing around shady spaces, all of this much more paint-by-numbers than connect-the-dots.
-
Colombia is trying its luck from distance, but Costa has been equal to each shot, first punching away Jefferson Lerma's rocket from the right, about 25 yards out, and then shuffling his feet to his left and catching Jhon Arias's shot from about the same distance.
Adjective
-
June’s tepid hiring comes after a relative surge in job gains the previous three months, countering concerns that the war in Iran would trip up an already wobbly labor market.
-
Basic, an obscure album of oddball electronic rhythms and supremely wobbly guitar released in 1984 by Lou Reed collaborators Robert Quine and Fred Maher.
Verb
-
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also fallen foul of Germany’s World Cup elimination by Paraguay, after stumbling into a social media debacle following a communications blunder.
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There's been some stumbling plays, thwarted by tripping and dramatic falls.
Adjective
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The pair come off less as cybercriminal masterminds than as galumphing galoots—that is to say, a pair of bumbling oafs who thought that asking AI how to cover their tracks was going to keep them out of federal prison.
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In the fall and early winter, there might be 20 creatures lounging there, occasionally galumphing or issuing a burp noise that echoes over the water.
Verb
-
The name Chelydra serpentina evokes colossal reptiles stomping through ancient forests.
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That feeling solidified during their solo date, which included stomping grapes, exploring a winery and making a promise to open a special bottle of wine together one year later.
Adjective
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Early reviews said that House of the Dragon was at the top of its game in season 3, after a periodically unsteady run before that.
-
Sydney is extra unsteady and flustered.
Cite this Entry
“Shambling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shambling. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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