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Synonyms

mucky

American  
[muhk-ee] / ˈmʌk i /

adjective

muckier, muckiest
  1. of or like muck.

  2. filthy, dirty, or slimy.

  3. British Informal.

    1. obscene.

      a mucky story.

    2. nasty; mean or contemptible.

      a mucky trick.

    3. (of weather) oppressively humid.


mucky British  
/ ˈmʌkɪ /

adjective

  1. dirty

  2. of or like muck

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of mucky

First recorded in 1530–40; muck + -y 1


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:

But soon after completion of the work the coating has begun to peel off and algae turned the pool's water a mucky green -- setbacks the president blamed on vandals, without providing evidence.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

Mr. Paré-Poupart is in his element when describing the men with whom he’s worked, misfits all yet high-functioning pros in the mucky métier they’ve chosen for themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

The trees won’t take in wetlands, in mucky soils.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

Politics has of course always had a mucky and brutal side to it, as well as one of public service which works earnestly to improve people's lives.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

I pushed off the mucky bottom, hand sinking deep into silky mud, and came back to standing.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

Just don’t bring the muckier parts of it inside to build up and contaminate our homes.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 3, 2022

After growing up in the gloomy North and slogging through Westeros’s muckier precincts with the Hound, she arrived in summery Braavos like a little bloodthirsty Mary Richards, thrilling in her newfound freedom.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2015

I want to see the muckiest film advertised.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 16, 2013

This six-ply tire has a unique tread design that's made to last and last while chomping away at the muckiest of mud.

From Time Magazine Archive

The 589 is lightweight, which means it steers easily and doesn't put as much strain on your quad's drivetrain, and it really eats up the muckiest of mud.

From Time Magazine Archive

Her ladyship had to come, of course, at the very worst time of year, when the mud was at its muckiest and the prairie was at its worst.

From The Prairie Mother by Arthur E. Becher

He carried bark and filled all the muckiest places of the trail.

From Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter

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