muddy

Verb · Adjective

US[muhd-ee]/ˈmʌdi/2 syllables

Open English WordNet

(of soil) soft and watery“the ground was boggy under foot”“a marshy coastline”“miry roads”“wet mucky lowland”“muddy barnyard”“quaggy terrain”“the sloughy edge of the pond”“swampy bayous”Synonyms: boggy marshy miry mucky quaggy sloppy sloughy soggy squashy swampy waterloggedOpposite drySimilar wet
dirty and messy; covered with mud or muck“muddy boots”“a mucky stable”Synonyms: muckyOpposite cleanSimilar dirty, soiled
(of color) discolored by impurities; not bright and clear; ‘dirty’ is often used in combination“a dirty (or dingy) white”“the muddied grey of the sea”“muddy colors”“dirty-green walls”“dirty-blonde hair”Synonyms: dirty dingy muddiedOpposite pureSimilar impure
(of liquids) clouded as with sediment“a cloudy liquid”“muddy coffee”“murky waters”Synonyms: cloudy mirky murky turbidOpposite clearSimilar opaque

dirty with mudSynonyms: muddy upMore general dirty, soil
cause to become muddy“These data would have muddied the prediction”More general confuse, blur
make turbid“muddy the water”More general change, alter

Word of the day · Oct 11About this word

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Mud′dy adjective [Compar. Muddier; superlative Muddiest.]

1. Abounding in mud; besmeared or dashed with mud; as, a muddy road or path; muddy boots.

2. Turbid with mud; as, muddy water.

3. Consisting of mud or earth; gross; impure.

This muddy vesture of decay.— William Shakespeare

4. Confused, as if turbid with mud; cloudy in mind; dull; stupid; also, immethodical; incoherent; vague.

Cold hearts and muddy understandings.— Edmund Burke

Dost think I am so muddy, so unsettled.— William Shakespeare

5. Not clear or bright. Jonathan Swift

Mud′dy transitive verb [past tense & past participle Muddied; present participle & verbal noun Muddying.]

1. To soil with mud; to dirty; to render turbid.

2. Fig.: To cloud; to make dull or heavy; to confuse. Nehemiah Grew

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54