Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shambling

/ˈʃæmblɪŋ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.09 in modern English

Syllables: sham-bling
IPA: /ˈʃæmblɪŋ/

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

present participle and gerund of shamble

adj

Who walks while dragging or shuffling the feet.

noun

An awkward, irregular gait.

Example Sentences

"moving with a shambling gait"
"a shambling giant of a man"
"If there was any magic in the video clips, it was a weak spell. Lurching between slow zooms and jerky cuts, these videos brought vaguely aspirational images to uneasy, shambling life: petals on a bathroom floor; animals lumbering through a dewy garden; an unmanned treadmill running in an otherwise empty penthouse suite."

Inflected Forms

more shambling (comparative) most shambling (superlative) shamblings (plural)

Derived Forms

shamblingly

Frequently Paired Words

shamble shambles

Synonyms

shamble shuffle shuffling

Rhymes With

gambling rambling

Questions

How do you pronounce shambling?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈʃæmblɪŋ/.
What does shambling mean?: present participle and gerund of shamble

How to pronounce shambling

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shambling”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈʃæmblɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shambling”.
Repeat and practice — Say “shambling” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.