muddle
[muhd-l]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- the state or condition of being muddled, especially a confused mental state.
- a confused, disordered, or embarrassing condition; mess.
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- 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.
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Origin of muddle
Synonyms
See more synonyms for muddle on Thesaurus.com1. confuse, botch, bungle, spoil.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for muddled
Contemporary Examples
Her own muddled feelings of confusion, shame, and fear are what make the essay great and what make the essay her story.
This obviously closed off some important avenues of inquiry, but I guess we muddled through.
The black, starless sky creeps over the muddled sunset that stains the waves purple before melting away.
That was clear and pretty popular, whereas today, the GOP message is muddled and unpopular.
He lacked basic political skills, and his unforced errors and muddled messaging unnecessarily antagonized conservatives.
Historical Examples
Their own thinking was so muddled, their views of life so out of gear.
The HarborErnest Poole
No one has ever told what you are—muddled, criminally muddled.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
That morning, in his glass cage, he muddled his columns several times.
The Trimming of GoosieJames Hopper
Ward wished devoutly that he could clear his thoughts; they were muddled.
Joan of Arc of the North WoodsHolman Day
Inside his muddled head, however, he was chuckling to himself.
Lost FaceJack London
muddle
- (often foll by up) to mix up (objects, items, etc); jumble
- to confuse
- to make (water) muddy or turbulent
- US to mix or stir (alcoholic drinks, etc)
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- a state of physical or mental confusion
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Word Origin
C16: perhaps from Middle Dutch moddelen to make muddy
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
Word Origin and History for muddled
muddle
v.
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.
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muddle
n.
1818, from muddle (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper