Sekirov Dictionary

muddy

/ˈmʌdi/

adjective 16
verb 11
noun 1
forms 5
phrases 2

adjective16

•
Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).
- He slogged across the muddy field.
- Take off your muddy boots before you come inside.
(euphemistic) Soiled with feces.
•
(figurative) Dirty, filthy.
- Thou sweet Arabian Panchaia, / Perfume this nastie age, smugge Lesbia / Hath stinking lunges, although a simpring grace, / A muddy inside, though a sulphul'd face. — 1599
•
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.
•
(figurative) Not clear.
- To vvhat, my loue, shall I compare thine eyne? / Christall is muddy. — 1595
•
(figurative) Of a colour: not bright: dirty, dull.
- Muddy colors are often the result of mixing complementary colors—those opposite each other on the color wheel. — 2026
(figurative) Of an image: blurry or dim.
(figurative) Of light: cloudy, opaque.
•
(figurative) Of sound (especially during performance, recording, or playback): indistinct, muffled.
- The television picture is decent, but the sound is muddy.
•
(figurative) Of speech, thinking, or writing: ambiguous or vague; or confused, incoherent, or mixed-up; also, poorly expressed.
- Do'st thinke I am so muddy, so vnsettled, / To appoint my selfe in this vexation? — 1610
•
(figurative) Originally, morally or religiously wrong; corrupt, sinful; now, morally or legally dubious; shady, sketchy.
- Business is business; and your business, let me remind you, is too muddy for such airs. — 1878
•
Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste.
- [H]er garments, heauy vvith her drinke, / Pul'd the poore vvretch from her melodious buy^([sic – meaning lay]), / To muddy death. — 1599
•
(literary, figurative) Of the air: not fresh; impure, polluted.
- Our ovvn muddy atmosphere, that vvraps us round in obscurity, though it fails to gild our prospects vvith sun-shine, or our groves vvith fruitage, nevertheless ansvvers the calls of industry. — 1791
(no longer used) Of an animal or plant: growing or living in mud.
(figurative, no longer used) Of a person or their facial expression: angry, sad, or sulky.
•
(figurative, no longer used) Slightly drunk; tipsy.
- [N]ot that he gets drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy. — 1791

verb11

•
To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud.
- If you muddy your shoes don’t wear them inside.
•
(figurative) To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle.
- The discussion only muddied their understanding of the subject.
•
(figurative) To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something).
- As the humans establish tentative bonds with their evolutionary cousins, the inter-species waters start to muddy. — 2014
Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled.
•
To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment.
- His life had hitherto been so quiet, so free from strife; […] It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied by rough hands; […] — 1855
•
Of water or some other liquid: to become cloudy or turbid.
- Malt before hops, the world over, or the beer muddies. — 1846
•
(figurative) 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.
(figurative) To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish.
(figurative) To make (something) impure; to contaminate.
(figurative) To become contaminated or impure.
•
(no longer used) To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire.
- […] I am novv sir muddied in fortunes mood, and smell somevvhat strong of her strong displeasure. — 1604

noun1

(Australia, informal) The edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata).

forms

muddied · muddying · muddies · muddier · muddiest

Phrases with muddy

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