different between murky vs muddy

English

Alternative forms

• mirky

Etymology

From Middle English mirky; equivalent to murk +? -y. Related to Old Norse myrkr, Russian ???? (mrak), Serbo-Croatian ?????.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m??(?)ki/
• Rhymes: -??(?)ki

Adjective

murky (comparative murkier, superlative murkiest)

1. Hard to see through, as a fog or mist.
2. Dark, dim, gloomy.
3. Cloudy, indistinct, obscure.
4. Dishonest, shady.

Synonyms

• dark

Related terms

• murk
• murkily
• murkiness

Translations

Further reading

• murky in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• murky in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

mud +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?m?di]
• Rhymes: -?di

Adjective

muddy (comparative muddier, superlative muddiest)

1. Covered with or full of mud or wet soil.

   He slogged across the muddy field.

   Take off your muddy boots before you come inside.

2. With mud or other sediment brought into suspension, turbid.

   The previously limpid water was now muddy as a result of the epic struggle.

3. Not clear; mixed up or blurry.

   The picture is decent, but the sound is muddy.

4. Confused; stupid; incoherent; vague.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

     cold hearts and muddy understandings
5. (euphemistic) Soiled with feces.

Synonyms

• clatchy (Scotland)

Derived terms

• muddily
• muddiness

Translations

Verb

muddy (third-person singular simple present muddies, present participle muddying, simple past and past participle muddied)

1. (transitive) To get mud on (something).

2. (transitive) To make a mess of, or create confusion with regard to; to muddle.
   • 2014, Steve Rose, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: a primate scream - first look review", The Guardian, 1 July 2014:

     As the humans establish tentative bonds with their evolutionary cousins, the inter-species waters start to muddy.

Derived terms

• muddy up