murky

adjective

ˈmər-kē 

murkier; murkiest

1

: characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke

the murky bottom of the lake

2

: characterized by thickness and heaviness of air : foggy, misty

rain poured down from murky skies

—Newsweek

3

: darkly vague or obscure

murky official rhetoric

He offered a murky explanation.

murkily

ˈmər-kə-lē 

adverb

murkiness

ˈmər-kē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• darkened
• dark

Examples of murky in a Sentence

She peered into one of the church's murky chapels.

a politician with a murky past

Recent Examples on the Web

Rules and regulations regarding international flight cancellations are a little murky. —Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 30 June 2025

Her eyes were murky green and always cast upward and to the left. —Ottessa Moshfegh, New Yorker, 30 June 2025

In contrast, some other datasets for machine learning models may have murky origins. —Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025

Efforts to rescue a teenager who drove off a bridge and plunged into a murky canal in southwest Florida were hampered by two dangerous obstacles: a pair of large alligators. —Chris Anderson, USA Today, 26 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing murky

• murky waters

Rhymes for murky

• jerky
• perky
• quirky
• turki

Kids Definition

murky

adjective

ˈmər-kē 

murkier; murkiest

1

: very dark or gloomy

2

: foggy sense 1, misty

3

: difficult to understand

a murky reply designed to confuse

murkiness noun