addle

American  

[ad-l] / ˈæd l /

verb (used with or without object)

addled, addling

1. to make or become confused.

2. to make or become rotten, as eggs.

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adjective

1. mentally confused; muddled.

2. rotten.

   addle eggs.

addle ¹ British  

/ ˈædəl /

verb

1. to make or become confused or muddled

2. to make or become rotten

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adjective

1. (in combination) indicating a confused or muddled state

   addle-brained

   addle-pated

addle ² British  

/ ˈædəl /

verb

1. dialect to earn (money or one's living)

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Other Word Forms

• addled
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of addle

First recorded before 1000; Middle English adel “rotten,” Old English adela “liquid, filth”; cognate with Middle Low German adele “liquid manure”

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Explanation

Addle is a verb meaning to confuse. When your great uncle Marvin became infirm in his later years, trying to distinguish between you and your cousins tended to addle his brain. Addle is a Middle English word coming from the Old English adela, meaning “liquid filth.” It’s related to the German adel, meaning “mire or puddle.” In the thirteenth century, addle was used to refer to rotten eggs. Now it's used to describe a confused mind. When someone's mind becomes addled — whether it's from age or love or illness — it’s like the brain is rotten.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

addle addled addling

He expected the chemical would addle mitochondria in every organ.

From Science Magazine ● May 4, 2023

Temperatures reach an unheard-of 115 in the Pacific Northwest To “Summer in the City” Hot town, summer in Seattle; Portlander brains are starting to addle.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2021

Her putter works just fine from medium to long range; it’s the tiddlers that get her nerves jangling and addle the head.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2019

The company will also remove nests, transport injured birds to rehabilitation centers and addle the eggs.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2018

“You’ll addle your brains if you don’t watch out.”

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

With their shallow root systems, addled by disease, the trees wouldn’t put up much resistance.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

We should not seek ethical guidance from addled entertainers, but we can find insights into our temporal and spiritual condition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026

But, like every addled maniac, his hatred lacks focus.

From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025

In Japan, I learned that many of the walls that toppled in 2011 had been built after World War II, when the country churned out concrete to spark its addled economy.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024

“Before we discuss the possibility that you’ve addled your wits with that crack to the head, tell me, how is the road to Tinue?”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

He said social media could create "greater connections and a sense of belonging" but also came with risks including the "harm of addling the developing mind of young people".

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

It is the play itself that lurches and rocks us, addling our expectation of narrative coherence in order to take us inside the sort of experience that can’t be grasped with the mind alone.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 30, 2019

The blaze has been propelled by a heatwave addling much of the nation, in addition to the naturally dry and windy conditions of Southern California's Santa Clarita Valley, the area affected by the fire.

From US News ● Jul. 25, 2016

You don’t feel like hissing this Miss Hannigan, which adds an addling ambivalence to the show.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2012

With the algebraists, however, who are pagans themselves, the 'pagan fables' are believed, and the inferences are made, not so much through lapse of memory as through an unaccountable addling of the brains.

From Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes Detective Stories by Joseph Lewis French

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