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
Assets worth at least $1 million — which includes the vast majority of real estate in San Francisco — are also grouped together, further muddying the picture.
—
Alyce McFadden, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Apr. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—Paul Wiseman, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—ABC News, 9 Mar. 2026
As the decades passed, their experiments escalated into increasingly absurd inquiries, muddying the boundaries between subjective and objective reality.
—Shannon Taggart, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
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
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
Alyce McFadden, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Apr. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—Paul Wiseman, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Also muddying the outlook for an end to the crisis is uncertainty about what the United States is trying to achieve.
—ABC News, 9 Mar. 2026
As the decades passed, their experiments escalated into increasingly absurd inquiries, muddying the boundaries between subjective and objective reality.
—Shannon Taggart, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muddying
Verb
-
Stop confusing busy with productive Founders in the struggle zone are busy.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
-
Schoen’s contract extension is confusing at best.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
When The Star requested records related to ATO being placed on probation last year, the outcome letter KU provided was heavily redacted, completely obfuscating the narrative of the hazing allegations that university investigators found to be credible.—
Matthew Kelly
April 6,
Kansas City Star,
6 Apr. 2026
-
The renderings, which showed an imposing new East Wing roughly a city block long, would be longer than the West Wing and almost completely obfuscating the view of the Treasury Building from the White House's South Lawn.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Use place mats or tablecloths on your kitchen table to keep food spills, condensation from drinks, and utensils from marring or staining the surface.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
29 May 2026
-
And the incident was one of four mechanical problems with the LCS fleet in a year, staining the reputation of the ships’ reliability.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Verb
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For more than four minutes Darnold drove downfield, connecting on three of four passes, baffling the pass rushers, bleeding the clock, and by the time the Seahawks finally gave the ball back, the Rams had only 25 seconds to live.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
-
Though some of the recent playoff defeats have been baffling and call for self-evaluation within the organization, the culture has been a huge net positive overall.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Applying terrorism designations to criminal syndicates, Brazilian officials say, conflicts with domestic legal definitions and risks blurring distinctions underpinning international counterterrorism law.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
1 June 2026
-
The most daunting part of new motherhood was the prospect of nights blurring into days without any rest.—
Brooke Taylor,
PEOPLE,
31 May 2026
Verb
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With the help of your Instant Pot, spaghetti and meatballs come together in under an hour without dirtying multiple dishes.—
Jenna Sims,
Southern Living,
24 Feb. 2026
-
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
Verb
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Police are investigating after puzzling footage posted online shows a group of men emerging from a manhole in Brooklyn early Friday morning.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
29 May 2026
-
Johnson insists that feels fine, so the loss of velocity is puzzling to the Angels.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
But as that dream inches closer to reality, legal squabbles are clouding that momentum.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
29 May 2026
-
Republicans want to pass the bill as quickly as possible, but the party-line bill’s exposure to anti-weaponization fund amendments is clouding its path in both chambers.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Muddying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muddying. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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