bobble
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Make a mess of, destroy or ruin.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bawbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɔbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
US
Make a mess of, destroy or ruin
us
To make a mistake in.
intransitive
To bob up and down.
intransitive
To roll slowly.
noun
A furry ball attached on top of a hat.
informal
A pill (a ball formed on the surface of the fabric, as on laundered clothes).
A wobbling motion.
british
Elasticated band used for securing hair (for instance in a ponytail), a hair tie
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Make a mess of, destroy or ruin
Used this way, bobble is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- screw up , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
- botch , rarer, so it draws attention
- bollocks , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bobble
- “The second baseman made a bobble but still had time to throw the runner out.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.