as in ambiguity
the quality or state of having a veiled or uncertain meaning
we had trouble understanding the passage because of its murkiness
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Recent Examples of murkiness
Despite the murkiness of sneckdowns, sanitation workers often end up taking care of them.
—
Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2026
There’s some murkiness about where the recipe originated; both baking brands White Lily and Martha White claim to have pioneered the beloved bread.
—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026
Despite the murkiness of the water, Chris jumped in to swim.
—Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 9 Jan. 2026
That’s the murkiness that makes any grand statement about the previous 17 games difficult.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Eliza Varadi, a pediatrician in South Carolina, told me that the murkiness around insurance coverage, coupled with lower demand, has prompted her practice to start ordering COVID vaccines just one box at a time—each a batch of 10 doses—to minimize the potential for loss.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
The vessel was operating in international waters but that added to the murkiness of the legal justification.
—Emily Goodin, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
Many technological challenges abound in the murkiness of natural language chatting.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
All of this speaks to overall murkiness around metrics in the fast-growing industry and the possibility that they might be manipulated.
—Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2025
Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2026
There’s some murkiness about where the recipe originated; both baking brands White Lily and Martha White claim to have pioneered the beloved bread.
—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026
Despite the murkiness of the water, Chris jumped in to swim.
—Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 9 Jan. 2026
That’s the murkiness that makes any grand statement about the previous 17 games difficult.
—Alec Lewis, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Eliza Varadi, a pediatrician in South Carolina, told me that the murkiness around insurance coverage, coupled with lower demand, has prompted her practice to start ordering COVID vaccines just one box at a time—each a batch of 10 doses—to minimize the potential for loss.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
The vessel was operating in international waters but that added to the murkiness of the legal justification.
—Emily Goodin, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
Many technological challenges abound in the murkiness of natural language chatting.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
All of this speaks to overall murkiness around metrics in the fast-growing industry and the possibility that they might be manipulated.
—Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for murkiness
Noun
-
The brain is also far more adept at handling things like ambiguity, subtlety, and nuance.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
-
What qualifies is highly subjective, but that ambiguity has overwhelmingly benefited federal officers, according to the two legal scholars.—
Max Taves,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
That intrigue and mysteriousness still rest in the canyon walls today.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Murkiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/murkiness. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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