murky

adjective

\ˈmər-kē

murkier; murkiest

Definition of murky

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.

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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

New homes must adhere to these standards before they’re built, but the picture gets murkier when properties are added onto or renovated. — Sara Cardine, latimes.com, "LCF Council considers new law to stem tide of setback encroachments," 7 June 2018 The cases shed light on the murky and once-hidden world of the CIA's rendition, detention and interrogation program. — Alan Cowell And Charlie Savage, miamiherald, "Lithuania and Romania complicit in CIA prisons, European court says," 1 June 2018 At around the one-year mark, Emmons says, your water may start to look murky and will need to be changed. — Emily Main, Good Housekeeping, "How To Grow Thriving Houseplants In Water," 23 June 2017 Awards season campaigning is a delicate process, and the rules about what's kosher and what's not get murky very quickly. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Golden Globe Voters Were Asked to Return a Gift of Tom Ford Fragrance," 12 Dec. 2016 This murky history, paired with a widening generational divide, begs the question: How did toasting become part of the national heritage, and what would be lost if the ritual were to disappear? — Benjamin Kemper, Smithsonian, "Raising a Glass to Armenia’s Elaborate Toasting Tradition," 13 July 2018 The transfer is likely to cast further doubt on HNA’s murky ownership, which has forced some Wall Street banks to stop doing business with it and drawn scrutiny from regulators in Europe and the United States. — Alexandra Stevenson, New York Times, "HNA Will Transfer Co-Chairman’s Stake as Ownership Doubts Linger," 13 July 2018 Mars is fairly low in the sky, which means its light is traveling through more of Earth’s murky atmosphere. — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Night sky brings a treat this month as Mars is the brightest it has been in 15 years," 13 July 2018 The tournament pines for tragedy, for surprises—and wild unpredictability may, in fact, be the best side benefit of soccer’s murky moral arena. — Alejandro Chacoff, The Atlantic, "Soccer Has No Interest in Fairness," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'murky.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.