Word: muddy Part of Speech: verb Etymology: The adjective is derived from Late Middle English muddi, moddy, muddy (“covered with or full of mud, muddy”), from mud, mudde (“mud; turbid water”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Mud, mudde is possibly borrowed from Middle Dutch modde, and/or Middle Low German modde, mudde, from Proto-Germanic *mud-, *mudra- (“mud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mū-, *mew- (“moist”). The English word is analysable as mud + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). Doublet of muddle. The verb is derived from the adjective. cognates * Middle Low German moddich, muddich (German Low German muddig (“muddy; mouldy”)) Pronunciation: /ˈmʌdi/ 1. To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud. Labels: transitive Example: If you muddy your shoes don’t wear them inside. Example: [T]hey splashed George. He was quiet: they feared they had offended him. Then all the forces of youth burst out. He smiled, flung himself at them, splashed them, ducked them, kicked them, muddied them, and drove them out of the pool. 2. To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment. Labels: transitive Example: This is at the bottom a dictate of common ſenſe, or the inſtinct of ſelf-defence, peculiar to ignorant weakneſs; reſembling that inſtinct, which makes a fiſh muddy the water it ſwims in to allude its enemy, inſtead of boldly facing it in the clear ſtream. Example: His life had hitherto been so quiet, so free from strife; […] It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied by rough hands; […] 3. To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: The discussion only muddied their understanding of the subject. Example: VVhen ſorrovves comes,^([sic – meaning come]) they come not ſingle ſpies, / But in Battalia[n]es. Firſt, her Father ſlaine, / Next your Sonne gone, and he moſt violent Author / Of his ovvne iuſt remoue: the people muddied, / Thicke and vnvvholſome in their thoughts, […] 4. To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish. Labels: figuratively, transitive 5. To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: The addition of the second batch of paint muddied the bright colours to a dull and washed look. 6. To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something). Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: As the humans establish tentative bonds with their evolutionary cousins, the inter-species waters start to muddy. Example: It may have been effective at conveying the confusion of the situation, but it didn't make for terribly thrilling scenes. The blurry camerawork (quite literally at times) and rapid-fire editing meant that exchanges of blows that should have been viscerally thrilling were often muddied, good for capturing the mood but not much fun to watch. 7. To make (something) impure; to contaminate. Labels: figuratively, transitive 8. To cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire. Labels: figuratively, obsolete, transitive Example: […] I am novv ſir muddied in fortunes mood, and ſmell ſomevvhat ſtrong of her ſtrong diſpleaſure. 9. Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled. Labels: also, figuratively, intransitive 10. Of water or some other liquid: to become cloudy or turbid. Labels: intransitive Example: Malt before hops, the world over, or the beer muddies. 11. To become contaminated or impure. Labels: figuratively, intransitive