as in to shuffle
to move heavily or clumsily
disconsolate and exhausted after losing the match, the wrestler shambled toward the locker room
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shamble
To this end, the new generation of morticians (another neologism meant to conjure expertise) bought up shambling Victorian mansions in swish residential districts and invented a new form of comfort.
—
Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
Movies may have led you to believe heroic astronauts can slip on a space suit and leap to the rescue, but under current designs this would result in Brad Pitt clutching his joints and shambling to a very painful (if handsome) death.
—Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023
Ray Fisher incarnates, with natural majesty, the brawn and bravado of Muhammad Ali; Edwin Lee Gibson shambles and stammers as Stepin Fetchit while retaining the dignity of a canny survivor.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2023
That baggy, shambling gang of tuneless no-hopers swept along on the glassy-eyed tide of post-acid house euphoria?
—Jonathan Bernstein, SPIN, 7 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for shamble
Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
Movies may have led you to believe heroic astronauts can slip on a space suit and leap to the rescue, but under current designs this would result in Brad Pitt clutching his joints and shambling to a very painful (if handsome) death.
—Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023
Ray Fisher incarnates, with natural majesty, the brawn and bravado of Muhammad Ali; Edwin Lee Gibson shambles and stammers as Stepin Fetchit while retaining the dignity of a canny survivor.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2023
That baggy, shambling gang of tuneless no-hopers swept along on the glassy-eyed tide of post-acid house euphoria?
—Jonathan Bernstein, SPIN, 7 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for shamble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shamble
Verb
-
The team then trained three seals–Nick, Luca, and Miro–to shuffle into place in front of a large screen and showed them the simulations.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
29 May 2025
-
When one of the figures is placed at the top of a ramp, the force of gravity causes the toy to walk down to the bottom by shuffling its legs back and forth.—
Ben Coxworth,
New Atlas,
23 May 2025
Verb
-
While sorting through storage in their Rhode Island studio to prep those reissues, Ivy stumbled upon a treasure trove of reel-to-reel tapes and old hard drives with unused material.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
4 June 2025
-
On a remote island in northern Norway, metal detectorists stumbled upon a pair of bronze treasures.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
4 June 2025
Verb
-
In a world where we’re constantly reminded that physical media is dead — that the future is just algorithms stomping our faces, forever — the fact that the Criterion Closet has gone viral suggests that all is not lost.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
29 May 2025
-
No one could agree on whether the brawl of as many as nine young men was limited to fists or if its participants were also kicking and stomping.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shamble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shamble. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share