muddle
UK /ˈmʌdl̩/ · US /ˈmʌd(ə)l/ verb, noun
Forms muddles muddling muddled
- verb To mix together, to mix up; to confuse. “Young children tend to muddle their words.”
- verb To mash slightly for use in a cocktail. “He muddled the mint sprigs in the bottom of the glass.”
- verb To dabble in mud.
- verb To make turbid or muddy.
- verb To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
- verb To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- verb To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
- noun A mixture; a confusion; a garble. “The muddle of nervous speech he uttered did not have much meaning.”
- noun (cooking and cocktails) A mixture of crushed ingredients, as prepared with a muddler.
- noun (archaic) A muddy mess.
- noun (India, historical) A servant's attendant; underservant.
Synonyms
clutter jumble fuddle mare's nest welter smother fix hole jam mess pickle kettle of fish puddle addle
Etymology
From Middle English modelen (attested in present participle modeland (“wallowing”)), from Middle Dutch moddelen (“to make muddy”), from modde, mod (“mud”) (Modern Dutch modder). By surface analysis, mud + -le. Compare German Kuddelmuddel.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make turbid, or muddy, as water. [Obs.]
- verb To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- verb To dabble in mud. [Obs.] Swift.
- verb To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
Etymology [From Mud.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “muddle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details