meddle

verb

med·​dle ˈme-dᵊl How to pronounce meddle (audio)
meddled; meddling
ˈmed-liŋ,
ˈme-dᵊl-iŋ How to pronounce meddle (audio)

intransitive verb

: to interest oneself in what is not one's concern : interfere without right or propriety (see propriety sense 1)
I never meddle in other people's private affairsG. B. Shaw

Examples of meddle in a Sentence

please stop meddling in your sister's marriage, even though you mean well
Recent Examples on the Web The online landscape has dramatically shifted since Russia sought to meddle in America’s 2016 presidential race won by Mr. Trump. David Klepper, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Mar. 2024 The online landscape has dramatically shifted since Russia sought to meddle in America's 2016 presidential race won by Trump. David Klepper, Quartz, 1 Mar. 2024 But of course, people with a predisposition to meddle will always do so, given the chance. John C. Goodman, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 But Sorbello, 37, didn’t return to meddle in her costars’ relationships. Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 27 Feb. 2024 Police allege Hatch tried to meddle in an investigation involving one of her deputy constables, Craig Regans, last October during a traffic stop. Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Feb. 2024 Tapia: State majority lawmakers continue to fail to focus on issues that need to be addressed at the state level and instead try to meddle on local government issues that are to be decided by the city councils. Sam Kmack, The Arizona Republic, 10 Feb. 2024 The announcement foreshadows a new challenge for state regulators, as increasingly advanced AI tools create new opportunities to meddle in elections across the world by creating fake audio recordings, photos and even videos of candidates, muddying the waters of reality. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 Putin interview with Tucker Carlson shows Kremlin outreach to Trump’s GOP Putin at one point warned the West sternly against sending its own troops to fight in Ukraine, and then wondered why the United States was meddling in the conflict rather than attending to its own problems. Francesca Ebel, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meddle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English medlen, from Anglo-French mesler, medler, from Vulgar Latin *misculare, from Latin miscēre to mix — more at mix

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of meddle was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near meddle

Cite this Entry

“Meddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meddle. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

meddle

verb
med·​dle ˈmed-ᵊl How to pronounce meddle (audio)
meddled; meddling ˈmed-liŋ How to pronounce meddle (audio)
-ᵊl-iŋ
: to interest oneself in what is not one's concern
meddle in another's business
meddler
ˈmed-lər How to pronounce meddle (audio)
-ᵊl-ər
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on meddle

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