as in fumbled
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
muffed the repair job and had to do it again
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Recent Examples of muffed
The sure-handed Doubs muffed the recovery with less than two minutes remaining and the Packers leading by 7.
—
Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Robinson muffed the second-half kickoff to pin the 49ers at their 12.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 4 Jan. 2026
Moments later, Cody Hagen muffed the ensuing kickoff, and the Yellow Jackets recovered.
—Cbs News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025
However, Cincinnati muffed a punt that allowed TCU to take over at the Cincinnati 33-yard line.
—Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Nov. 2025
Cherry Creek ended up punting, and Cash Spence muffed the fair catch, which the Bruins recovered inside the 5-yard line.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 29 Nov. 2025
The Browns got into the red zone quickly after Bryce Baringer muffed a 15-yard punt.
—Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Kicker Brady Denaburg missed a potentially game-tying, 51-yard field goal, and then U returner Koi Perich muffed bouncing punt in the shadow of the goalposts.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muffed
Verb
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Ball security The Hurricanes have fumbled the ball four times in the past two games and lost two of them — one apiece by Malachi Toney (first round against Texas A&M) and Fletcher (quarterfinal against Ohio State).—
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Kennedy fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone, the source of the noise.—
Verb
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Princely Umanmielen sat at his locker in complete silence, still in his full uniform, roughly 30 minutes after the final whistle blew on Saturday.—
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Green Bay blew a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter of a wild 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Saturday night.—
Cite this Entry
“Muffed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muffed. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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