English Explanatory Dictionary

muddy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).
Of water or some other liquid: containing mud or (by extension) other sediment in suspension; cloudy, turbid.
Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste.
Soiled with feces.
Of an animal or plant: growing or living in mud.
Dirty, filthy.
Not clear.
Of a colour: not bright: dirty, dull.
Of an image: blurry or dim.
Of light: cloudy, opaque.
Of sound (especially during performance, recording, or playback): indistinct, muffled.
Of speech, thinking, or writing: ambiguous or vague; or confused, incoherent, or mixed-up; also, poorly expressed.

verb

To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud.
To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment.
To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle.
To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish.
To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted.
To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something).
To make (something) impure; to contaminate.
To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire.
Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled.
Of water or some other liquid: to become cloudy or turbid.
To become contaminated or impure.

noun

The edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata).

Pronunciation

/ˈmʌdi/ En-us-muddy.ogg

Word forms

muddy muddier muddiest muddies muddying muddied

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. cognates * Middle Low German moddich, muddich (German Low German muddig (“muddy; mouldy”))

Synonyms

oozy clatchy faint wan bland colourless dim dingy dull lackluster leaden muddy sad sober uncolorful unholiday muddled fuddled Adrian Quist adrip aled up all mops and brooms arseholed a sheet in the wind a sheet in the wind's eye bedrunken befuddled beliquored besotted besotten bevvied bibacious bibulous binned bingoed bladdered blasted blewed blind blind drunk blitzed blocked blootered blottoed blue bollocksed bombed boozy bosky bottled Brahms Brahms and Liszt budgy bungalowed bungfu burlin' canned clobbered corned cocked

Derived words

muddily muddiness muddyish Muddy Mississippi Muddy York nonmuddy unmuddy muddier muddying muddy up muddy the waters muddy the water

Translations

Bulgarian: кален Bulgarian: мръсен Catalan: fangós Cherokee: ᏝᏬᏚᎯ Chinese Mandarin: 渾 /浑 Czech: blátivý Dagbani: biɛtibiɛti Danish: mudret Esperanto: kota Faroese: runutur Finnish: kurainen Finnish: kurassa Finnish: mutainen Finnish: mudassa Finnish: rapainen Finnish: ravassa French: boueux French: vaseux German: schlammig German: matschig Hungarian: saras Hungarian: sáros Icelandic: forugur Indonesian: berlumpur Ingrian: mutaisikko Ingrian: retuisa Interlingua: fangose Irish: abarach Irish: draoibeach Irish: lábach Italian: fangoso Kapampangan: maburak Latin: līmōsus Latin: luteolus Latin: luteus Latin: lutulentus Macedonian: каллив Plautdietsch: blottich Polish: błocisty Polish: błotnisty Portuguese: barroso Portuguese: lodoso Portuguese: lamacento Russian: гря́зный Serbo-Croatian: бла̀тан Serbo-Croatian: blàtan Spanish: barroso Spanish: enfangado Spanish: fangoso Spanish: lodoso Spanish: turbio Sundanese: bolokot Swedish: lerig Tagalog: maputik Thai: เลอะโคลน Turkish: çamurlu Ottoman Turkish: چامورلو Ukrainian: брудни́й Vietnamese: bùn lầy Vietnamese: lầy lội Vietnamese: sình lầy

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