as in messy
lacking in order, neatness, and often cleanliness
a muddled arrangement of trophies in the display case
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in confused
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
a car shopper thoroughly muddled by too much well-meaning advice
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disrupted
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
some mischievous brat had muddled the household accounts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of muddled
Embry Roberts,
Martha Stewart,
2 July 2026
The Red Wings' muddled path forward was evident Wednesday with the signing of Viktor Arvidsson and trade pickup of Keegan Kolesar representing their most notable additions.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
While critics mostly embraced Harris’ brutal commitment to conjuring such a twisted tale, Amazon MGM put out a muddled sales pitch that grossed under $5 million domestically.
—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
2 July 2026
The American League is so muddled that one good week could launch a last-place team back into the playoff race.
—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
1 July 2026
The issue for many fans was that Jeopardy had previously ruled players incorrect for similarly muddled handwriting.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 June 2026
And yet the book’s muddled character is revealing.
—
Paul Elie,
New Yorker,
27 June 2026
The legends surrounding the team can, at times, become muddled.
—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
26 June 2026
So the relationship of high rates for long-term CDs and low rates for short-term CDs remains muddled.
—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
Sacbee.com,
22 June 2026
This muddled the entire process.
—
Tony East,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Nola’s situation is just as muddled.
—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Erika’s brother, Klaus (August Diehl), sits naked by a rumpled bed with last night’s conquest still muddled up with his sheets, talking on the phone to his sister.
—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
The movie manages to be rigorously muddled despite not being all that complicated.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 May 2026
The investigation into Sabich's death was muddled by multiple law enforcement missteps.
—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
14 May 2026
That reasoning is muddled, but according to Kneecap, they weren’t supposed to find out about this letter.
—
Lily Moayeri,
SPIN,
6 May 2026
Especially among activists and academics, this explosion of identities has muddled Crenshaw’s neat system of greater and lesser disadvantage.
—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Adjective
Slayton agrees, noting that muddled mint or basil make particularly refreshing additions.
—
Embry Roberts,
Martha Stewart,
2 July 2026
The Red Wings' muddled path forward was evident Wednesday with the signing of Viktor Arvidsson and trade pickup of Keegan Kolesar representing their most notable additions.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
While critics mostly embraced Harris’ brutal commitment to conjuring such a twisted tale, Amazon MGM put out a muddled sales pitch that grossed under $5 million domestically.
—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
2 July 2026
The American League is so muddled that one good week could launch a last-place team back into the playoff race.
—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
1 July 2026
The issue for many fans was that Jeopardy had previously ruled players incorrect for similarly muddled handwriting.
—
Louis Peitzman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 June 2026
And yet the book’s muddled character is revealing.
—
Paul Elie,
New Yorker,
27 June 2026
The legends surrounding the team can, at times, become muddled.
—
Christopher Buchanan,
Los Angeles Times,
26 June 2026
So the relationship of high rates for long-term CDs and low rates for short-term CDs remains muddled.
—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
Verb
Because the devices are relatively new, hospitals do not always categorize the exact type of vehicle involved in a crash, and details such as speed are self-reported, meaning the data can be muddled.
—
Sacbee.com,
22 June 2026
This muddled the entire process.
—
Tony East,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Nola’s situation is just as muddled.
—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Erika’s brother, Klaus (August Diehl), sits naked by a rumpled bed with last night’s conquest still muddled up with his sheets, talking on the phone to his sister.
—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
The movie manages to be rigorously muddled despite not being all that complicated.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 May 2026
The investigation into Sabich's death was muddled by multiple law enforcement missteps.
—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
14 May 2026
That reasoning is muddled, but according to Kneecap, they weren’t supposed to find out about this letter.
—
Lily Moayeri,
SPIN,
6 May 2026
Especially among activists and academics, this explosion of identities has muddled Crenshaw’s neat system of greater and lesser disadvantage.
—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muddled
Adjective
-
Interviews for the statewide candidates are done now via questions from the entire convention, a potentially messier proposition.
-
More vehicles on the road means more potential for complex, multi-vehicle collisions and messier disputes over who caused what.
Verb
-
Narcissism should never be confused with the healthy form of philautia, a unique Greek philosophy of self-love.
-
One workshop is a Mindful Archery class, not to be confused with her other course Meditative Archery, which involves Jungian journaling; and there’s a one-on-one archery session with spiritual guidance.
Verb
-
The dangerous temperatures have already disrupted several events scheduled for Friday.
-
The overlap of two warming patterns — one regional and one climate-scale — could compound stress on marine food webs that have already been repeatedly disrupted over the past decade.
Adjective
-
By building circuits whose states naturally fluctuate with this environmental heat, thermodynamic computing turns an otherwise stochastic and chaotic feature of nature into an incredibly fast, ultra-low-energy calculator.
-
The combat that follows is intimate, chaotic, and bloody.
Verb
-
His mother, Ahmani Hicks, describes him as a kid who loved sports, and she's baffled as to why her son was targeted.
-
Known as the Galactic Center Excess, a spherical gamma-ray glow extending out for thousands of light-years from the core of our galaxy, this high-energy light has baffled researchers for over a decade.
Verb
-
Sarah was sent to a mental hospital, and the boys were shuffled among family members, ending up with their penniless grandmother in Kentucky.
-
As soon as the game wrapped up, those guests shuffled out, and hours later were replaced by a rowdier group ordering shots at the bar, dancing to 2000s hits in front of the DJ booth and smoking vape pens on the outdoor patio.
Adjective
-
Birkin’s signature unfussy aesthetic translated well to her living environments, which featured a jumbled array of objects of all kinds, layered by years of flea market finds and vintage store visits.
-
The shore now alternated between open sandy or rocky beaches and jumbled boulders ranging from a foot to many feet in diameter.
Verb
-
Pochettino seemed puzzled by the downcast tone of his post-match press conference.
-
Astronomers are puzzled that such a glaring inconsistency could have gone unnoticed in existing data, such as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which provides our earliest snapshot of the universe.
Cite this Entry
“Muddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muddled. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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