muddling 1 of 2

present participle of muddle
1
2

muddling

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of muddling
Adjective
But also muddling standard operating procedures is the fact that, according to the insider, ABC doesn’t have a dedicated late-night executive. Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2025 With his far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, sitting in the front row, Netanyahu took the stage, looking a little peeved, and berated the event’s organizers for muddling his slide show. Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025 His recipe calls for muddling sweet Sun Gold tomatoes and fresh basil, plus a smidge of salt and sugar until juicy; then stirring in gin, vermouth, and ice until well-chilled. The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025 That’s muddling the outlook for rate cuts. Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2025 Gently muddling the mint and lime and not pulverizing them preserves their flavor and keeps the drink crisp rather than bitter. Aly Walansky, Southern Living, 18 Aug. 2025 The case sparked numerous videos by amatuer investigators posting on Youtube and Facebook, muddling up the tip line for information. Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muddling
Verb
  • One morning, members of the Fort Greely missile defense base spot an ICBM of unknown origin on a suborbital trajectory heading straight for Chicago, baffling the country’s top intelligence and defense teams who only have 18 minutes to respond before impact.
    Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
  • But there were strengths here, too, none more than England’s impervious Lazarus complex, that baffling inability to know when one is in a state of emergency.
    Megan Feringa, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • This groundbreaking method could transform the way researchers study complex diseases, including cancer, without disrupting natural cellular processes.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
  • There has been a history of computer problems disrupting flights in the industry, though most of the time the disruptions are only temporary.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Even after his plea deal and his admission of guilt, Ozer was allegedly telling confusing and conflicting stories about the cause of his problems.
    Steve Belanger, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The issue came up on Thursday's live episode after the Oscar-winning Ghost star introduced a Hot Topic about Democratic Maine politician Graham Platner's problematic past — which segued into a confusing admission by the 69-year-old Hollywood legend.
    Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • And aren’t our real-life romantic complications bewildering enough?
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Its ginormous investments in higher-value, tech-heavy sectors from smartphones to autos to semiconductors to biotechnology are disrupting the global landscape at bewildering speed.
    William Pesek, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The technology included corrupt automatic shuffling machines that read cards and predicted which player had the best hand.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Card-reading contact lenses, X-ray poker tables, trays of poker chips that read cards, hacked shuffling machines that predict hands.
    Rob Wile, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • What is the most confounding and terrible, however, is Gretchen’s assertion that Slade, the anti-Viagra, doesn’t get involved with the women on his own accord, but only engages because the women always talk about him.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The offense’s struggles are the most confounding.
    Zach Berman, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Chemical clues from another world What makes these observations particularly intriguing and puzzling is the detection of nickel without concurrent detection of iron above our instrumental limits.
    Darryl Seligman, Space.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • There was, however, one puzzling factor.
    Dan Albano, Oc Register, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Conventional cleanup techniques often worsen the problem by disturbing soil structures and consuming large amounts of energy.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025
  • There is trash and pollutants from the tourists and gravel has been mined from the area to make trekking routes for people, disturbing the places where females may have laid their eggs, researchers said.
    Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Muddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muddling. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on muddling

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!