muddy

 
Pronunciation: /ˈmʌdi/

adjective (muddier, muddiest)

  • covered in or full of mud: they changed their muddy boots
  • not bright or clear; dirty-looking: the original colours were blurred into muddy pink and yellow
  • (of a sound, especially in music) not clearly defined: an awful muddy sound that renders his vocals incoherent
  • confused, vague, or illogical: some sentences are so muddy that their meaning can only be guessed

verb (muddies, muddying, muddied)

[with object]
  • cover or fill (something) with mud: the linoleum flooring was muddied
  • make (something) hard or harder to understand: the first year’s results muddy rather than clarify the situation

Phrases

muddy the waters

make an issue or situation more confused or complicated: the conflation of two distinct hypotheses has merely served to muddy the waters

Derivatives

muddily

adverb

muddiness

noun