muddy
/ˈmʌdi/ adjective, verb, noun
Forms muddier muddiest muddies muddying muddied
- adjective Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”). “He slogged across the muddy field.”
- adjective Of water or some other liquid: containing mud or (by extension) other sediment in suspension; cloudy, turbid. “The previously limpid water was now muddy as a result of the struggle between the alligator and the wild boar.”
- adjective Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste.
- adjective (euphemistic) Soiled with feces.
- adjective (archaic) Of an animal or plant: growing or living in mud.
- adjective Dirty, filthy.
- adjective Not clear.
- adjective Of a colour: not bright: dirty, dull.
- verb To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud. “If you muddy your shoes don’t wear them inside.”
- verb To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment.
- verb To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle. “The discussion only muddied their understanding of the subject.”
- verb To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish.
- verb To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted. “The addition of the second batch of paint muddied the bright colours to a dull and washed look.”
- verb To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something).
- verb To make (something) impure; to contaminate.
- verb (obsolete) To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire.
- noun (Australia, chiefly New South Wales, Queensland, informal) The edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata).
Synonyms
oozy clatchy faint wan bland colourless dim dingy dull lackluster leaden sad sober uncolorful unholiday muddled fuddled Adrian Quist adrip aled up muddy up boggy marshy miry mucky quaggy sloppy sloughy soggy squashy
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English muddi, moddy, muddy (“covered with or full of mud, muddy”), from mud, mudde (“mud; turbid water”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Mud, mudde is possibly borrowed from Middle Dutch modde, and/or Middle Low German modde, mudde, from Proto-Germanic *mud-, *mudra- (“mud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mū-, *mew- (“moist”). The English word is analysable as mud + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). Doublet of muddle.
The verb is derived from the adjective.
* Middle Low German moddich, muddich (German Low German muddig (“muddy; mouldy”))
From mud (crab) + -y (diminutive suffix).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “muddy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details