smudgy

American  

[smuhj-ee] / ˈsmʌdʒ i /

adjective

smudgier, smudgiest

1. marked with smudges; smeared; smeary.

2. emitting a stifling smoke; smoky.

3. British Dialect. humid; sweltering; sultry.

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smudgy British  

/ smʌdʒɪ /

adjective

1. smeared, blurred, or soiled, or likely to become so

2. made deliberately indistinct or cloudy

   smudgy colours

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Other Word Forms

• smudginess
  noun
• smudgily
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of smudgy

First recorded in 1840–50; smudge + -y ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smudgy smudgier smudgiest

Pugh, with her droll line readings and smudgy blue eyeliner, plays apathy better than anyone; she’s compelling even with all the passion drained from her body.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025

“Show Your Hand” memorializes the incident with an artfully smudgy rendering of the athlete and a set of 15 small paintings of the audience at the tournament.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2022

He even recruits Fleet Foxes, who more than a decade ago brought a keening shimmer to roots-friendly indie rock, making music that was epiphanic and smudgy, and a little grating.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

Grid View Photos in bright daylight look fine, and even moderately low light images look good enough for social media, though images in very low light are a smudgy mess of noise reduction.

From The Verge ● Feb. 2, 2022

Two or three small children of various sizes, all pale, with smudgy faces and bare smudgy knees, wobbled along in the shadow of her skirts.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

A cloud no larger and smudgier than a high-school boy's hand had dropped its first shadow between them.

From Star-Dust by Hurst, Fannie

I can spot the smudgiest bus and the most hidden car with ease.

From The Verge ● May 23, 2021