flub

1 of 2

verb

flubbed; flubbing

transitive verb

: to make a mess of : botch
flubbed my lines

flub

2 of 2

noun

: an act or instance of flubbing : blunder

Examples of flub in a Sentence

Verb The ball went right to him but he flubbed the catch. The actress flubbed several lines. Noun when she was told her information was wrong, she apologized for the flub and immediately corrected it
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
On one play in the third, Brandon Miller flubbed an easy fast break, throwing an errant hit-ahead pass through the baseline. Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2024 After one joke flubbed, Koy, who was named host after some bigger names reportedly passed, also noted how fast he was thrust into the job. Jake Coyle, Fortune, 8 Jan. 2024 Gay, the school’s first Black president—and, for some critics, an avatar of the identity-politics bureaucracy on college campuses—had just flubbed testimony before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2024 Despite the cheesy plots, unknown actors and flubbed lines — not to mention all the real-life drama that has surrounded the popularity of Chinese apps like TikTok, Shein and Temu — Americans are flocking to the service. Lyric Li, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2024 After one joke flubbed, Mr. Koy, who was named host after some bigger names reportedly passed, also noted how fast he was thrust into the job. Jake Coyle, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Jan. 2024 And if Biden flubs it, which is a real possibility? Rich Lowry, National Review, 8 Jan. 2024 The party flubbed the 2020 caucuses so badly that no winner was ever formally named. Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2024 Then the president flubbed a joke, appearing to confuse the pop icons Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Britney Spears. Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023
Noun
Biden's team in turn has highlighted the 77-year-old Trump's own flubs on the campaign trail. Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 25 Feb. 2024 The reality star immediately apologized for the flub while taking a tour of the White House led by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that was posted on TikTok on Thursday. EW.com, 17 Feb. 2024 Since that 2021 flub, the Super Bowl has come back with consecutive improvements, as audiences of 101 million and 113 million tuned into and clicked on the last two title games. Daniel Arkin, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2024 Though there was one brief power outage on the red carpet, the rest of the evening played out like a normal awards show — there were funny flubs, flat banter, sweet speeches, cast reunions, and a really long speech by Fran Drescher. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 24 Feb. 2024 Former President Donald Trump, who is 77, has had his own flubs, saying Nikki Haley was in charge of the Capitol on January 6th instead of Nancy Pelosi. Nbc Universal, NBC News, 11 Feb. 2024 Both men have had a series of public flubs that have fueled skepticism about their readiness. TIME, 4 Feb. 2024 The pair, encouraged by the assistant producer Nancy De Los Santos, decided to give free rein to everything else—the discussions and arguments, the slips and flubs, the spontaneity and authenticity of their interactions. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023 So when Lee exposed some of Atlanta’s most popular digs for customer service flubs, ridiculously long wait times, arbitrary rules around ordering and misleading information about service hours — the internet had thoughts. Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flub.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb

1904, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

1900, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of flub was in 1900

Dictionary Entries Near flub

Cite this Entry

“Flub.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flub. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

flub

verb
ˈfləb
flubbed; flubbing
flub noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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