muddy the waters

phrase

: to make a situation more confusing or difficult

Examples of muddy the waters in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Of course, Graham’s job is to muddy the waters — to play up the socioeconomic biases of his screen persona so that viewers are willing to at least entertain the idea that Miguel has valid reason to be so afraid of everything. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 8 Sep. 2026

In a time of rule changes and lawsuits muddying the waters, Carter followed coach Jason Candle to UConn with an understanding that he’d be awarded an extra year because of the injury. — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 7 Sep. 2026

Maresca has also probably muddied the waters by refusing to identify a preferred holding midfielder and describing both new players in similar terms. — Sam Lee, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

The biggest factor that muddies the waters in Wallace’s murder case isn’t the lack of a plausible motive, but rather how to prove it and the identities beyond the actual participants, beyond the shadow of a doubt. — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 2 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for muddy the waters

• backwaters
• breakwaters
• floodwaters
• granddaughters
• groundwaters
• headwaters
• shearwaters
• wastewaters
• blotters
• daughters
• otters
• plotters