to mix up in a confused or bungling manner; jumble.
to cause to become mentally confused.
to cause to become confused or stupid with or as if with an intoxicating drink.
to make muddy or turbid, as water.
to mix or stir (a cocktail, chocolate, etc.).
Ceramics. to smooth (clay) by rubbing it on glass.
verb (used without object),mud·dled,mud·dling.
to behave, proceed, or think in a confused or aimless fashion or with an air of improvisation: Some people just muddle along, waiting for their big break.
noun
the state or condition of being muddled, especially a confused mental state.
a confused, disordered, or embarrassing condition; mess.
Verb Phrases
muddle through, to achieve a certain degree of success but without much skill, polish, experience, or direction: None of us knew much about staging a variety show, so we just had to muddle through.
Origin of muddle
1540–50;mud + -le; cognate with Middle Dutchmoddelen to muddy
Related formsmud·dled·ness, mud·dle·ment, nounmud·dling·ly, adverbpre·mud·dle, noun, verb (used with object),pre·mud·dled,pre·mud·dling.un·mud·dled, adjective
1590s, "destroy the clarity of" (a transferred sense); literal sense ("to bathe in mud") is from c.1600; perhaps frequentative formation from mud, or from Dutch moddelen "to make (water) muddy," from the same Proto-Germanic source. Sense of "to make muddy" is from 1670s; that of "make confused" first recorded 1680s. Meaning "to bungle" is from 1885. Related: Muddled; muddling.
