verb
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to make or become confused or muddled
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to make or become rotten
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
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”
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.
Vocabulary lists containing addle
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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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:
He expected the chemical would addle mitochondria in every organ.
From Science Magazine ● May 4, 2023
They even had the guts as three Olympic rookies to watch old South Korean Olympic victory videos, a part of preparation that might addle some.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 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
“I dim the eyes and addle the brain. Every mortal fears old age!”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
What rare fruit survived to maturity on these little, addled trees was misshapen, acrid, and stubbornly green on one end; in short, it tasted terrible.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
Only one scene really has an impact: Ben runs into a nerd-revolutionary, adorably played by Michael Cera, who seems like a little brother of Leonardo DiCaprio’s addled old radical in “One Battle After Another.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Though he’d been addled by the ailment, he understood that his son had managed to preserve the family business.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2025
But, like every addled maniac, his hatred lacks focus.
From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025
This imbalance provoked criticism for its promotion of the belief that all chess players are seriously addled.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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
He talked of a compromise, begad! of meeting on friendly terms, of the Lord knows what; fairly addling one, taking one's breath away with his audacity.
From Fickle Fortune by Elisabeth Burstenbinder (AKA E. Werner)
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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.
