muddy

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmʌdi/ UK /ˈmʌdi/ See IPA manual

Freq #10663

Meanings

1

adj
Covered with or full of mud.

He slogged across the muddy field after the storm.
2

adj
Of water: cloudy and full of dirt or sediment.

The river turned muddy after the heavy rain.
3

adj
Not clear or easy to understand.

His explanation was so muddy that no one understood it.
4

verb
To make something cloudy or confused.

Bringing up old arguments only muddies the discussion.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · covered with or full of mud. oozy

2 adj · of water: cloudy and full... turbid

Word family

Forms muddiedmuddiermuddiesmuddiestmuddying

Derived forms muddiermuddilymuddinessmuddyingmuddyishnonmuddyunmuddy

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

muddy the waters
to introduce confusion that obscures facts or makes a situation harder to judge

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…

*mew- Proto-Indo-European muddi Middle English modde Middle Dutch *mud- Proto-Germanic *mū- Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# muddy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈmʌdi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmʌdi/
**Frequency rank:** 10663

## Meanings
1. Covered with or full of mud.
2. Of water: cloudy and full of dirt or sediment.
3. Not clear or easy to understand.
4. To make something cloudy or confused.

## Examples
- He slogged across the muddy field after the storm.
- The river turned muddy after the heavy rain.
- His explanation was so muddy that no one understood it.
- Bringing up old arguments only muddies the discussion.

## Derived Forms
- muddier
- muddily
- muddiness
- muddying
- muddyish
- nonmuddy
- unmuddy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *mew-
- Root: muddi
- Root: modde
- Root: *mud-
- Root: *mū-

## 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…

## AI 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). In present-day English its meanings include covered with or full of mud, of water: cloudy and full of dirt or sediment, and not clear or easy to understand. The historical chain runs through *mew- (Proto-Indo-European), muddi (Middle English), modde (Middle Dutch), modde (gml), and *mud- (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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