to muddy

Examples

• All

• Soil erosion is muddying the water and interfering with subsistence fishing.

  Academic text (2006)

• My pants are gonna get muddied.

  Goosebumps (2015)

• The rain muddied it all up.

  The Sisters Brothers (2018)

• So he muddies the water.

  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

• At the funeral, the Ballards were nervous about muddying their shoes.

  Fiction book (1992)

• The coffee was sugarless and slightly muddied with milk.

  Fiction book (1998)

• Slowly they picked themselves up, muddied and bruised.

  Fiction book (1993)

• The damp, yellow cloth wrapped around the canteen was muddied by the sand.

  Fiction book (1996)

• You don't want extraneous bass notes ringing out because it muddies the entire mix.

• His trousers were tucked into heavy, rubber fishermen's boots to guard against the muddied ground.

  Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

S

to soil

vsto muddy

59 4.5

To make something dirty with mud or dirt

is narrower, concentrating on wet earth and unclear sediment

M

to muck

vsto muddy

3 3.5

To make something dirty with mud

is narrower, emphasising dirtying specifically by wet earth

B

to bedraggle

vsto muddy

1 9.9

Make someone or something wet and dirty by moving through muddy ground

expresses the general dirtying act without the trailing image

R

to rile

vsto muddy

1 8.8

Make water muddy by stirring up dirt

is a broader action of dirtying objects, not only making liquids turbid

M

to mud

vsto muddy

1 5.1

To cover a surface with soft wet earth to make it smooth

is the general action of making things dirty with wet earth

M

to mire

vsto muddy

1 7.9

To make something dirty by covering it with mud

is the same dirtying action but less focused on stickiness

M

to muddy up

vsto muddy

1 3.5

To make something dirty with wet dirt, for example shoes or floors

focuses on the same dirtying action but stated more simply

D

to draggle

vsto muddy

1 9.4

Make something wet and dirty by pulling it through mud or water

is the same dirtying idea but not tied to dragging motion

G

to grime

vsto muddy

1 6.6

To make something dirty by covering it with dirt or soot

focuses on wet earth and sediment rather than thick surface dirt

B

to bemire

vsto muddy

9.9

To cover someone or something with mud

is similar but names the general act without the person focus

M

to muck up

vsto muddy

• Informal

6.7

To make something dirty with mud or dirt

stays specifically about wet earth and unclear sediment

D

to drabble

vsto muddy

• Archaic

9.9

To splash and make something wet or dirty, for example mud on shoes

is about overall wet earth contamination, not only splashes

S

to slurry

vsto muddy

• Specialized

6.2

To mix a solid with water or another liquid to make a thick, muddy mix

is the act of making things dirty rather than forming a mixture

G

to gung

vsto muddy

• UK

9.9

To make something dirty with a sticky or greasy substance

concerns wet earth and sediment rather than sticky greasy matter

C

to colly

vsto muddy

• Archaic

9.9

To make something dirty or stained

is more specific about wet earth and sticky sediment rather than general soiling

Antonyms

C

to clean

∞ 1.0

To remove dirt and stains

C

to clarify

248 3.3

To make something clear so others can understand it

Idioms

K

knee-deep in the Big Muddy

• Informal

9.9

Deeply stuck in a difficult situation that is hard to leave

Phrasal Verbs

M

to muddy the waters

• Informal

7 7.2

Make a topic more confusing by adding unclear details

M

to muddy up

1 3.5

To make something dirty with wet dirt, for example shoes or floors

M

to muddy up

• Informal

6.7

To make an idea or situation unclear and confusing

How Dirty

to mire

29 7.6

to muddy

5 1.9

to soil

59 4.5

to stain

113 3.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology