muddled Hear it!

Variant of muddle

muddle Definition

mud·dle (mud'l)

transitive verb muddled -·dled, muddling -·dling

  1. to mix up in a confused manner; jumble; bungle
  2. to mix or stir (a drink, etc.)
  3. to make (water, etc.) turbid
  4. to confuse mentally; befuddle, as with alcoholic liquor
  5. to confuse (the brain, mind, etc.); befog

Etymology: < mud + -le

intransitive verb

to act or think in a confused way

noun

  1. a confused or disordered condition; mess, jumble, etc.
  2. mental confusion
muddle Idioms

muddle through

Chiefly Brit. to manage to succeed in spite of apparent blunders or confusion
muddled Synonyms

muddled

modif.

  1. Drunk

    tipsy, inebriated, intoxicated; see drunk.

  2. Confused

    uncertain, addled, stupid; see confused 2.

muddled Usage Examples

Object

  • thinking: Once you do, the compiler can help you to spot all sorts of silly mistakes arising from muddled thinking.
  • bit: That can get a bit muddled in three hours.
  • thought: Thus the Incarnation cannot be set aside simply as muddled thought.
  • message: Back at home, the muddled messages over the war against drugs continue.
  • thing: Here the Minutes Committee has also muddled things a little.
  • word: Yes or No. Even John Prescott could not get those two words muddled up.

Used with why or when

  • when: However, opinions and sympathies become more muddled when the issues are family relations, religion, and sexuality.

Modifying Another Word

  • hopelessly: Now our affairs are hopelessly muddled by strong, silent men.
  • somewhat: However, due to a faulty reconditioned unit, the rectification process became somewhat muddled.
  • rather: This leads to a rather muddled plot with the local lemurs, led by Sacha Baron Cohen.
  • slightly: This can make the movie slightly muddled at times.
  • sometimes: The atmosphere got even more informal after dinner, when we were trying to do a little Scottish dancing and getting quite muddled sometimes.
  • little: Both do their best, but look a little muddled with the whole enterprise themselves.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • up: Why should the Frank Skinner show be muddled up with section 28 anyway?
  • around: So I went back and had another look and muddled around in the menus a bit more.

Browse dictionary entries near muddled

  1. muddle through
  2. muddle-headedness
  3. muddle-headed
  4. muddle
  5. mudding
  6. muddiness
  7. muddily
  8. muddiest
  9. muddier
  10. muddied
  1. muddler
  2. muddling
  3. muddy
  4. muddying
  5. mudfish
  6. mudfishes
  7. mudflap
  8. mudflow
  9. mudguard
  10. mudhole