muddle
Americanverb (used with object)
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muddles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
muddled,
past participle, past
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muddling
present participle
-
to mix up in a confused or bungling manner; jumble.
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to cause to become mentally confused.
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to cause to become confused or stupid with or as if with an intoxicating drink.
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to make muddy or turbid, as water.
-
-
to mix, crush, or mash (an ingredient) into a drink, especially with a muddler.
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to mix or stir (a cocktail, chocolate, etc.).
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-
Ceramics. to smooth (clay) by rubbing it on glass.
verb (used without object)
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muddles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
muddled,
past participle, past
-
muddling
present participle
noun
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muddles
plural
verb phrase
verb
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(often foll by up) to mix up (objects, items, etc); jumble
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to confuse
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to make (water) muddy or turbulent
-
to mix or stir (alcoholic drinks, etc)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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muddlednessnoun
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muddlementnoun
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premuddlenoun
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muddledadjective
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muddlingadjective
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muddlyadjective
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muddlinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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muddlesimple
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muddlessimple
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have muddledperfect
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has muddledperfect
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am muddlingprogressive
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are muddlingprogressive
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is muddlingprogressive
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have been muddlingperfect progressive
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has been muddlingperfect progressive
Past
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muddledsimple
-
had muddledperfect
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was muddlingprogressive
-
were muddlingprogressive
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had been muddlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of muddle
First recorded in 1540–50; mud + -le; cognate with Middle Dutch moddelen “to muddy”
Explanation
A muddle is something that's messy and confusing. If your bedroom looks like a hurricane just hit it, you might describe it as a muddle. Oftentimes, we create the muddles in our lives, so it’s appropriate that muddle can be used as a verb meaning “to mix up” or “confuse.” Conveniently, though, the word muddle also describes a way out of difficult situations; to muddle through a troublesome task is to somehow figure it out, even if you don’t quite know what you’re doing. It has been suggested that muddle comes from an old Dutch word meaning “to make muddy.”
Vocabulary lists containing muddle
In a Pickle: Words for When You're in Trouble
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Bridge to Terabithia
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So Roberts and the Dodgers are left to muddle on with Smith regardless of how much he struggles offensively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
I meet each new crisis with little more than a desire to muddle through, to patch it up well enough that I can forget about it.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
The muddle of Catholic teaching on war has been a long time in the making.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
But some officials suggest that Europe should instead prepare for the war to muddle on.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025
Talking would only muddle any sounds he might be making.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
That may be a greenlight for investors to take a closer look at well-positioned companies, even if China’s economy merely muddles along.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
“He just muddles through and uses Google Images and sort of figures it out that way.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
And his recent strategy to rebuke “weirdness” further muddles his role as the “normal” ally of the GSA.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2024
The researchers knew at this point that they had a subjective way to induce presence hallucinations, thanks to the robotic task that muddles up the user's senses.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
He muddles his vowel sounds, drops some consonants and even whole syllables.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
"The differences between the parties have been quite muddled for a while," one says.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Hutchison previously said the issue muddled talks over a potential sale of stakes in certain port assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Rising competition and a cautious consumer backdrop have suppressed sales, analysts say, and frequent management changes have muddled the strategy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026
But because decomposing food is a source of ammonia, the source of any emissions remains muddled, regulators said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Past information might be revered, but in successive retellings it would become progressively more muddled and eventually lost.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The BBC understands Lord Mandelson doesn't believe there were any security concerns, wasn't asked to do anything to deal with any and there has been a muddling of key details relating to these claims.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Most people have these spaces, she notes, but “the usual experience is of muddling along, spending these bits of time without much direction”—puttering around the house, mindlessly scrolling on our phones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
You can also underscore the fruit’s bitterness by muddling its peel.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
That’s partly because the plot can veer into far-fetched territory, but also because we see the story unfold from two different viewpoints, muddling the truth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
But the only remnant left was the burning ache in my throat and the stench of spent gunpowder and swampy water muddling in my nostrils.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
