1
as in confusing
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
my mind had been thoroughly muddied by the long hours of exacting work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in obfuscating
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
that argument is irrelevant and will just muddy the issue we're trying to resolve
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in staining
to make dirty
forgot to take off our shoes and accidentally muddied the kitchen floor
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of muddying
This may be because the nucleus accumbens, the other reward region that some participants learned to ramp up, didn’t have the same connection to immune response, muddying the results.
—
Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2026
Injuries are muddying the market for players such as Coby White, who has played fewer than half of the games this season because of recurring calf injuries.
—Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
But seen another way, this release is also optimally confusing, muddying the waters with as-yet-unverified information that’s being disseminated via individual screenshots on social media, making the whole thing easier to dismiss.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
This will prevent muddying the pieces if any color bleeding occurs while washing.
—Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2025
When asked about the more recent changes in the color grading industry, Doyle says an entirely new market is muddying the waters.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
Beijing would be relieved that the United States is no longer muddying and in fact strengthening its nonsupport for independence.
—Stephen Wertheim, Foreign Affairs, 28 Oct. 2025
Further damning revelations are about to land, no doubt further muddying the waters.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2025
But now some of the world’s most prominent hotel brands are muddying the waters.
—Chrissie McClatchie, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2025
Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2026
Injuries are muddying the market for players such as Coby White, who has played fewer than half of the games this season because of recurring calf injuries.
—Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
But seen another way, this release is also optimally confusing, muddying the waters with as-yet-unverified information that’s being disseminated via individual screenshots on social media, making the whole thing easier to dismiss.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
This will prevent muddying the pieces if any color bleeding occurs while washing.
—Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2025
When asked about the more recent changes in the color grading industry, Doyle says an entirely new market is muddying the waters.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
Beijing would be relieved that the United States is no longer muddying and in fact strengthening its nonsupport for independence.
—Stephen Wertheim, Foreign Affairs, 28 Oct. 2025
Further damning revelations are about to land, no doubt further muddying the waters.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2025
But now some of the world’s most prominent hotel brands are muddying the waters.
—Chrissie McClatchie, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muddying
Verb
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Too many turnaround attempts see a CEO throwing spaghetti at the wall in the hopes something will work, further confusing the rank and file and sapping their confidence in management.—
Phil Wahba,
Fortune,
30 Jan. 2026
-
One thing confusing some residents is snow emergency declarations and the residential street parking restrictions.—
Veronica Ortega,
CBS News,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Lawyers for the group contend that the city is willfully obfuscating to cover up its inadequate efforts to live up to its settlement.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
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The state says the foundation did this because Aerial Recovery, the nonprofit, had been obfuscating its name.—
Evan Mealins,
Nashville Tennessean,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Cooks who use the oven regularly should clean it once a month to prevent food and grease from building up and staining the oven.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Be very quick to wipe away any drips that run onto the wood cabinet surface to prevent staining.—
Shagun Khare,
The Spruce,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The pilot of a private jet reportedly made an eerie discovery while flying thousands of feet over Rhode Island, marking the latest in unexplained encounters baffling both experts and civilians alike.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
22 Dec. 2025
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From financial wipeouts to baffling misreads of beloved source material, some of Hollywood’s most notorious flops began as video games.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Malone was raised in Grapevine and has sold millions of records globally over the last decade in his career as a rapper, singer and songwriter, blurring genre lines between rap, hip-hop, country and rock in the process.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Three years later, host Zane Lowe flew to San Juan to interview the rising artist, whose early SoundCloud uploads and genre-blurring reggaeton tracks were turning heads.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Keep them in reserve as a sleep sock to ward off icy toes and prevent sweat and skin oils from dirtying your down sleeping bag.—
Adam Roy,
Outside,
28 Dec. 2025
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Amazon shoppers are also going after this top-selling nonstick frying pan that’s great for eggs, chicken breasts, and other hard-to-flip foods, as well as this immersion blender that can churn soups and sauces into a creamy texture without dirtying another vessel.—
Clara McMahon,
PEOPLE,
28 Nov. 2025
Verb
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This Upper Paleolithic burial even became famous, though puzzling to researchers, because the unusual skeletal remains were even disfigured.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Jan. 2026
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But in recent years, Betelgeuse has thrown astronomers a few puzzling curveballs that have required serious detective work to solve.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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By his third season, rumors of Sane’s departure and injuries surfaced, clouding his trajectory.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The study showed that insurers paid investors $680 million in dividends and accepted $951 million in capital contributions from affiliates, clouding regulators’ abilities to determine insurers’ actual financial health.—
Ron Hurtibise,
Sun Sentinel,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Muddying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muddying. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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