flubbing
Making a mistake
Flubbing is making a clumsy mistake, especially in performance or speech—botching a line, fumbling a catch, bungling a presentation.
The word suggests minor incompetence rather than serious failure: She kept flubbing her lines during rehearsal.
A flub is the mistake itself: His flub on the candidate's name went viral.
Handle with clumsy fingers
- botchSpoil through incompetence
- bungleFail through clumsiness
- goofMinor foolish error
- misstepError in action or judgment
blunder · miscue · blooper · gaffe · snafu · mishap · lapse · oversight
Walking clumsily, almost falling
- stammeringInvoluntary speech repetition
- forgetting linesLosing memorized dialogue
- blankingErasing or forgetting
- freezingExtremely cold
choking · tripping up · ad-libbing · recovering · improvising · corpsing · stage fright · drying up
Clumsy, uncoordinated handling
- clumsyLacking physical coordination
- bumblingClumsily incompetent
- ungracefulLacking elegance in movement
- maladroitLacking physical deftness
lurching · stumbling · gauche · uncoordinated · ham-fisted · butterfingers · heavy-handed · klutzy
Intense shame or embarrassment
- chagrinDistress from wounded pride
- red-facedShowing visible embarrassment
- sheepishnessTimid embarrassment after wrongdoing
- flusteredNervously upset and confused
cringing · wincing · apologizing · self-conscious · abashed · chagrined · humiliated · faux pas
fumble
Handle with clumsy fingers
misstep · blunder · miscue · blooper · gaffe · snafu · mishap · lapse · oversight · screwup
stumbling
Walking clumsily, almost falling
- stammeringInvoluntary speech repetition
- forgetting linesLosing memorized dialogue
- blankingErasing or forgetting
freezing · choking · tripping up · ad-libbing · recovering · improvising · corpsing · stage fright · drying up
fumbling
Clumsy, uncoordinated handling
- clumsyLacking physical coordination
- bumblingClumsily incompetent
- ungracefulLacking elegance in movement
maladroit · lurching · stumbling · gauche · uncoordinated · ham-fisted · butterfingers · heavy-handed · klutzy · all thumbs
mortification
Intense shame or embarrassment
- chagrinDistress from wounded pride
- red-facedShowing visible embarrassment
- sheepishnessTimid embarrassment after wrongdoing
flustered · cringing · wincing · apologizing · self-conscious · abashed · chagrined · humiliated · faux pas
- wastingsquandering, frittering, splurging, overspending, misusing
flubbingnailing
Securing with driven fasteners
acing · nailing it · succeeding · excelling · doing well