mucky

adjective

ˈmə-kē 

muckier; muckiest

1

: consisting of, marked by, or full of mud or muck

the mucky bottom of a pond

The ground was mucky and full of stagnant puddles.

—James Alexander Thom

2

a

: covered in dirt or gunk : dirty, filthy

mucky boots

b

: offensive to the senses : disagreeable, unpleasant

… the pretense that the picture is about decent people caught in a mucky world …

—Stanley Kauffmann

c

: muggy, humid

In the early evening … a thunderstorm rolled through, cleaning out the mucky air.

—Rick Steves

d

: murky, clouded

… the mucky floodwaters crawled through her home.

—Dug Begley and Maggie Gordon

muckiness noun

Hardy bulbs hate soppy living conditions and will rot if left sitting in water. They'll tolerate cold far better than muckiness.

—Mary Robson

Synonyms

• miry
• muddy
• oozy
• slimy
• sludgy
• slushy

Examples of mucky in a Sentence

the ground was very mucky after a night of pouring rain

only too happy to remove those old mucky clothes

Recent Examples on the Web

The novel’s biting satire and mucky spirit have mostly been jettisoned for Facebook-ready female empowerment slogans. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 7 Dec. 2024

In the past, the only questions surrounding his output have been consistency, his physical rigour and doing the mucky stuff. —George Caulkin, The Athletic, 31 July 2024

Strong calved riders pedaled thin wheeled cycles over potholed, rutted and mucky farm roads. —Tom Mullen, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024

Her seawall drops about 7 feet into a mucky gully where freshwater once flowed from a manmade reservoir known as Wixom Lake. —Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 22 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Phrases Containing mucky

• mucky-muck