1
as in dirt
foul matter that mars the purity or cleanliness of something
spattered with muck from the pigpen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in junk
that which is of low quality or worth
what's this muck that you've been watching on TV, anyway?
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in garbage
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
there's some solid substance in this book, but the reader has to trudge through a lot of muck to get to it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to stain
to make dirty
you can't work in the garden and not expect to muck your clothes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of muck
Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Agents manage the herd with water, food and supplements as needed, and muck and maintain the stables and round pens.
—Suzanne Wright, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2025
ArsTechnica, 7 July 2025
And when the commercial harvest was closed, at least one federal official speculated that any further research might get curtailed, since those anglers, many of them rich and well connected, wouldn’t want scientists mucking around in what had become their territory.
—Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for muck
Noun
Just as happened in the Tri-Lakes pilot at the Lake Arrowhead marina, results showed more oxygen and less muck at the bottom, meaning less phosphorus being released.
—Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Agents manage the herd with water, food and supplements as needed, and muck and maintain the stables and round pens.
—Suzanne Wright, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
Of course, Google doesn't make this easy for people who aren't comfortable mucking around with a command-line terminal and making under-the-hood changes to their Android settings.
—ArsTechnica, 7 July 2025
And when the commercial harvest was closed, at least one federal official speculated that any further research might get curtailed, since those anglers, many of them rich and well connected, wouldn’t want scientists mucking around in what had become their territory.
—Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for muck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muck
Noun
-
Together Skelly and O’Steen buried Grimes, whom police would find covered by blankets, tarps and dirt, the defendant told the jury.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Vacuum to remove any remaining dirt that may be trapped in the rug’s fibers.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
As the rover’s instruments confirmed, the red is iron-rich mud, the purple is iron and phosphorous, the yellow and green are iron and sulfur.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
-
What's exciting is that a combination of mud and organic matter has reacted to produce these minerals and these textures, Hurowitz said.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Now supposedly dying from some terminal illness, Julian has gone total hermit mode inside of his cluttered London apartment, where the walls are festooned with the relics of his success and the backrooms are a junk pile of painful memories.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Expect the Nationals to dispute the characterization of their ticket sales as relying on junk fees.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Start With Clean, Reliable Data Garbage in, garbage out.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
By the end, Flacco was removed from the game and rookie Dillon Gabriel led a garbage-time touchdown drive capped by an 8-yard scoring pass to Dylan Sampson.—
Zac Jackson,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Wood filler is the best choice for repairing large, deep gouges, but usually requires staining.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Inside the retro-futuristic Discoveryland area of Disneyland Paris, a full-size Star Wars X-Wing fighter sits on a silver and blue platform which looks like it has been weathered and stained from battles.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The timing and intensity of peak foliage vary from year to year, depending on several factors, such as drought conditions, rainfall, temperature, soil content, and the types of trees, as well as cloud cover.—
Kyle Reiman,
ABC News,
16 Sep. 2025
-
But cutting down forests to plant coffee and other crops releases carbon that was stored in trees and soil into the atmosphere.—
Marianne Krasny,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Cheddar Cheese Straws Nothing beats the sharp, savory crunch of cheese straws fresh from Grandma’s oven.—
Symiah Dorsey,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
-
These bite-size Zucchini Chicken Enchilada Roll-ups are filled with chicken, peppers, cheese, onions and enchilada sauce.—
Bethany Thayer,
Freep.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Every four years, we are told that this is the most important election in history, which is a lot of errant nonsense.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
12 Sep. 2025
-
This type of nonsense from [in-laws] is what wears on you over the years.—
Erin Clack,
PEOPLE,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Muck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muck. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share