murky
Americanadjective
-
murkier,
comparative
-
murkiest
superlative
adjective
-
gloomy or dark
-
cloudy or impenetrable as with smoke or fog
Synonym Usage
See dark.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of murky
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English mirky; see origin at murk, -y 1
Explanation
Something that's murky is dim, gloomy or hard to see through clearly. Think of the dark fog around a haunted house or the cloudy, muddy water in a swamp. Rarely used before the 17th century, this adjective came about by adding a "y" to the word murk. Murk itself evolved from myrkr, a Norse word for "darkness.” Things that are murky are unclear; that goes for murky, sediment-filled lakes, shady business deals, and arguments that don't seem to make any sense.
Vocabulary lists containing murky
The Diary of Anne Frank
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"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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List 10
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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, it’s all very murky and uncertain … but long story short: It is possible that plague is at play.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
The reasons for the latest delay on the $3.3-billion project are murky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
For now, the path forward looks as murky as ever.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
But some Chinese nationals have reported facing murky travel restrictions for years.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
It was the first time that many people had realized how murky and changeable the waters of history can be.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
Ekerdt estimates most homes hold tens of thousands of things, each with its own meaning, and once you add a spouse’s things into the mix, sovereignty over what stays and what goes gets even murkier.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
But lawmakers and intelligence experts warn that the legal picture is murkier in practice, especially if telecommunications and technology companies decide they no longer have sufficient legal protection to comply with government demands.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The rest of the field is murkier, but I think Chase Infiniti, star of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’s’ coming-of-age follow-up ‘The Testaments,’ should make the cut.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
If you’re looking at a flight later than this summer, the picture is murkier, but it probably makes sense to hold off for a few weeks if the ticket price is really high.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
To acknowledge these horrors means turning away from the brightly rendered version of your country as it has always declared itself and turning toward something murkier and unknown.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The first, “From Dystopia to Our Declaration” by Nijawwon Matthews, is the murkiest.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
HKU1 has the murkiest evolutionary history, but its genetic sequence clusters close to the murine hepatitis virus, suggesting it has a rodent origin.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 11, 2024
Gravity-powered, the sleek stainless steel system cleans even the murkiest pond water of viruses, bacteria, pathogens and other nastiness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2018
All of these factors cast this decision to live in the murkiest light.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 29, 2017
I had seen the number on the radio in Greg’s memory only a few hours earlier, burning brightly through even the murkiest clouds of his thoughts.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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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.
