murky

Sometimes mirk·y

[mur-kee]

adjective

murkier, murkiest 

1. dark, gloomy, and cheerless.

   Antonyms: cheery, bright

2. obscure or thick with mist, haze, etc., as the air.

   Synonyms: opaque, obscure, indefinite, hazy, confusing, hazy, misty, lowering, cloudy
   Antonyms: clear

3. (of liquid) not clear; cloudy with or as if with sediment.

   Antonyms: transparent, pellucid, limpid, clear

4. not clearly expressed; vague; unclear; confused.

   a murky statement.

murky

/ ˈmɜːkɪ /

adjective

1. gloomy or dark

2. cloudy or impenetrable as with smoke or fog

Other Word Forms

• murkiness noun
• murkily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of murky¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English mirky; murk, -y ¹

Synonym Study

See dark.

Example Sentences

What the composition will look like remains murky.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet a number of independent studies suggest the evidence for this conventional wisdom is murky.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even if it does pick up, the long-term outlook for employment on Wall Street remains murky.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The once clear river had turned murky and slimy, completely changing how she felt about living alongside it, she said.

Read more on BBC

No matter what happens, the fact that James didn’t reveal his intentions in his first public appearance since last spring means that this Laker season has the chance to be a murky maybe mess.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cloudy 
• dark 
• dim 
• dirty 
• dismal 
• dreary 
• foggy 
• fuzzy 
• misty 
• muddy 
• nebulous 
• stormy