muddy

1 of 2

adjective

mud·​dy ˈmə-dē 

muddier; muddiest

1

: morally impure : base

2

a

: full of or covered with mud

b

: characteristic or suggestive of mud

a muddy flavor

muddy colors

c

: turbid with sediment

3

a

: lacking in clarity or brightness : cloudy, dull

a muddy recording

eyes muddy with sleep

b

: obscure in meaning : muddled, confused

muddy thinking

muddily

ˈmə-də-lē 

adverb

muddiness

ˈmə-dē-nəs 

noun

muddy

2 of 2

verb

muddied; muddying

transitive verb

1

: confuse

2

: to soil or stain with or as if with mud

3

: to make turbid

4

: to make cloudy or dull

Phrases

muddy the waters

: to make a situation more confusing or difficult

Synonyms

Adjective

• miry
• mucky
• oozy
• slimy
• sludgy
• slushy

Verb

• addle
• baffle
• bamboozle
• beat
• befog
• befuddle
• bemuse
• bewilder
• buffalo
• confound
• confuse
• discombobulate
• disorient
• flummox
• fox
• fuddle
• get
• gravel
• maze
• muddle
• mystify
• perplex
• pose
• puzzle
• vex

Examples of muddy in a Sentence

Adjective

please do not walk in the house with muddy boots on, as you will get the carpet dirty

whether muddy or not, water taken from lakes and streams should be boiled by campers

Verb

The flooding muddied the roads.

She muddied the color by adding some brown.

muddying the line between fact and fiction

The debate further muddied the issues.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

On Utiel’s Avenida del Milagro, residents work together to remove muddy water from their homes. —Sophie Tanno, CNN, 31 Oct. 2024

Dive team members for the Houston police department then searched beneath the surface of the muddy creek. —Ayana Bryant, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2024

Verb

This keeps the goat cheese from muddying the salad and the orange segments from disintegrating, creating a clean-looking, beautifully colorful salad. —Julia Levy, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2024

But that all gets muddied after Venom shows up at Area 51, the site of a giant laboratory that’s about to be decommissioned by the U.S. government. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing muddy

• muddy the waters

Kids Definition

muddy

1 of 2 adjective

mud·​dy ˈməd-ē 

muddier; muddiest

1

: filled or covered with mud

a muddy pond

muddy shoes

2

: resembling mud

a muddy color

muddy coffee

3

: not clear or bright

a muddy complexion

4

: unclear in meaning : muddled

muddy thinking

muddiness noun

muddy

2 of 2 verb

muddied; muddying

1

: to soil or stain with or as if with mud

2

: to make cloudy or dull

3

: to become or cause to become confused