muddleheaded

American  

[muhd-l-hed-id] / ˈmʌd lˌhɛd ɪd /

adjective

1. confused in one's thinking; blundering.

   a muddleheaded assertion.

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muddleheaded British  

/ ˌmʌdəlˈhɛdɪd /

adjective

1. mentally confused or vague

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Other Word Forms

• muddleheadedness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of muddleheaded

First recorded in 1750–60; muddle + headed

Example Sentences

Historians have tended to consider Populism muddleheaded: America looked forward, Populists looked backward.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 1, 2016

Almost every day of his hunted existence was a new complex of calculations and risks; a single muddleheaded moment might have ruined him.

From Time Magazine Archive

To a muddleheaded Government clerk who telephoned him to ask what should be done with a carload of shingles, he replied: "Print the Lord's Prayer on every one of them."

From Time Magazine Archive

But servants nearly always recognize a gentleman, even if he be only a well-meaning, honest, muddleheaded gentle man like Mr. Baldwin.

From Time Magazine Archive

In his essays, "Random Memories," he tells of the "dizzy muddleheaded joy" he had in his surroundings, swaying like a reed, and grabbing at the fish which darted past him.

From The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls by Stevenson, Robert Louis