blunderbuss

noun

ˈblən-dər-ˌbəs How to pronounce blunderbuss (audio)
Definition of blunderbussnext
as in butcher
someone who bungles an effort leave it to that blunderbuss to bungle a job that a child could do

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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 blunderbuss Trump would also stop treating the Europeans as enemies with his blunderbuss tariffs. — Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025 Cost cutting ‘blunderbuss’ DOGE is part of a long line of presidential efforts to take an ax to the administrative state. — Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025 Colman is Edith Swan, a middle-aged church lady who still lives with her blunderbuss of a father (Timothy Spall) and mild-mannered mother (Gemma Jones) in a working-class neighborhood of Littlehampton. — Ty Burr, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for blunderbuss
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blunderbuss
  1. butcher
  2. incompetent
Noun
  • Durant's Steakhouse At Durant’s Steakhouse in Phoenix, the Chef’s Cut Hanging Bacon at Durant’s begins with premium, generously thick cut Colorado Farms bacon, hand cut each day by master butchers.
    — Aly Walansky, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • It was constructed in 1897 as part of the area’s military campus, and over time was used as an army depot, a butcher shop, an animal-feed store and a mailroom.
    — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of butcher
Noun
  • The Dodgers reached the pinnacle honestly, in a capitalistic structure that properly hands no favors to the incompetent.
    — Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Jan. 2026
Definition of incompetent

Browse Nearby Words

blunder
blunderbuss
blunderbusses
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Cite this Entry

“Blunderbuss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blunderbuss. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on blunderbuss

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about blunderbuss

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