to muddy

Examples

• All

• All the speculation is just muddying the waters.

  Bombshell (2016)

• Unfortunately, the shining clarity of this excellent advice has a way of becoming muddied in action.

  Academic text (2008)

• Just enough to muddy the waters.

  High School (2010)

• And we can talk about how research can be muddied for days, right?

• So that that just further muddies the water and makes the process itself less transparent.

• The lack of uniformity, at first glance, seems to continue to muddy the waters.

  Academic text (2007)

• The confusion is exacerbated by the industry itself, which muddies the water by blaming the victim.

  Academic text (2004)

• Your Honor, Mr. Haller is just muddying the waters with outrageous statements.

  The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

• Far from clarifying the debate, Kristol and Kagan will have only muddied the waters.

  Academic text (1996)

• The misleading information only served to muddy the issue further.

Synonyms

C

to confuse

vsto muddy

266 1.9

Make someone unable to think clearly or make something hard to understand

is about reducing clarity in meaning rather than affecting thought directly

M

to mix up

vsto muddy

• Informal

65 2.7

To make people confused and things messy

means making things less clear rather than only rearranging items

B

to blur

vsto muddy

61 3.6

To make something hard to see or understand

focuses on lowering clarity of meaning rather than only visual blurring

M

to muddle

vsto muddy

33 4.8

Mix things up so they are unclear

is about making something less clear rather than only disorganizing

M

to muddy the waters

vsto muddy

• Informal

7 7.2

Make a topic more confusing by adding unclear details

is the simple action of making things less clear without focus on issues

F

to fuzz

vsto muddy

2 5.6

To make an image or sound unclear

has a broader sense of making meaning less clear not only appearance or sound

M

to muddy up

vsto muddy

• Informal

6.7

To make an idea or situation unclear and confusing

is the base verb used more generally not the phrasal form

N

to nebulize

vsto muddy

• US

8.2

To make an idea or statement unclear

is the common simple action of making things less clear and hard to follow

M

to muzz

vsto muddy

9.9

To make thoughts or words unclear, often from noise and tiredness

is focused on general loss of clarity rather than only mental disturbance

M

to misarticulate

vsto muddy

8.6

To express ideas unclearly so other people cannot understand them

covers general making less clear not only unclear speaking or writing

Antonyms

C

to clarify

248 3.3

To make something clear so others can understand it

S

to simplify

99 2.5

Make something easier to understand or use

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 Clear

to obfuscate

• Formal

17 9.1

to obscure

86 7.0

to muddy

18 4.4

to blur

61 3.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology