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

Handicapped by my seasickness and by the murky skies, I hardly ever could make my star sights work.

—Robert Shenk

3

: darkly vague or obscure

murky official rhetoric

He offered a murky explanation.

murkily

ˈmər-kə-lē 

adverb

murkiness

ˈmər-kē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of murky

• 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

Light takes on an ethereal glow and colors blend into murky browns and blacks. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 24 Sep. 2026

And when an open component and a proprietary controller interact and something fails, liability can become genuinely murky. — John Healy, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026

But that failed, too, leaving a murky path for Henderson, whose cancer was so rare the World Health Organization had only given it a name in 2021. — Arthur Allen, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026

Brown dwarfs occupy the murky territory between planets and stars. — Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 21 Sep. 2026

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