muddle
Syllables: mud·dleUK/ˈmʌdl̩//ˈmʌd(ə)l/
muddle verb: to mix together, to mix up; to confuse.
Verb
muddle (third-person singular simple present muddles, present participle muddling, simple past and past participle muddled)
- To mix together, to mix up; to confuse.
- Young children tend to muddle their words.
- I will not , to please hostile critics , muddle the argument by making it one of recondite learning , in which neither I nor my readers are strong . I try to lay before the reader reasons from which he can judge for himself1847, Francis William Newman, A History of the Hebrew Monarchy
- To mash slightly for use in a cocktail.
- He muddled the mint sprigs in the bottom of the glass.
- To dabble in mud.
- Young ducklings foster'd by a hen;
But, when let out, they run and muddlec. 1721-1722, Jonathan Swift, The Progress of Marriage
- Young ducklings foster'd by a hen;
- To make turbid or muddy.
- He did ill to Muddle the Water.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
- To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
- To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- Their old master Epicurus seems to have had his brains so muddled and confounded with them, that he scarce ever kept in the right way.1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693
- […] I vvas for five Years often drunk, alvvays muddled, they carry'd me from Tavern to Tavern, to Alehouſes and Brandy Shops, and brought me acquainted vvith ſuch ſtrange Dogs!1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter VIII. A Continuation of the...
- To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
- They muddle it [money] away without method or object, and without having anything to show for it.1821, William Hazlitt, On the Want of Money
Noun (1)
muddle (plural muddles)
- A mixture; a confusion; a garble.
- The muddle of nervous speech he uttered did not have much meaning.
- As a result, no single party or coalition immediately gained enough parliamentary seats to govern, thrusting Spain into a familiar political muddle and giving new life to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who only days ago seemed moribund.2023 July 24, Jason Horowitz, “What the Collapse of Spain’s Far Right Means Going Forward”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- A mixture of crushed ingredients, as prepared with a muddler.
- A muddy mess.
- I must drive as quick with a thunder-rain pelting in my face, and the roads in a muddle, and the horses starting—I can’t call it shying, I have ’em too well in hand,—at every flash, just as quick as if it was a fine hard road, and fine weather.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861
Noun (2)
muddle (plural muddles)
- A servant's attendant; underservant.
- We bought a few rugs and odds and ends and our sitting room looks quite European; then we have a bedroom with 2 beds and a dressing room, also a corridor for the muddles and servants.1985, Lizzie Hessel, Ann Brown, Anne Rose, Lizzie: A Victorian Lady's Amazon Adventure, page 132
- I have an ayah (or lady's maid), and a tailor (for the ayahs cannot work); and A—84 has a boy: also two muddles—one to sweep my room, and another to bring water.2022, Carl Thompson, Katrina O'Loughlin, Éadaoin Agnew, Women's Travel Writings in India 1777–1854, page 201
muddle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
muddle in Hindi
- muddle, trouble, bother
- पचड़ा pacṛā
muddle in Tamil
- ஒழுங்கற்ற நிலை, குலை, குளறுபடி, குழப்பம், குழப்பு
muddle in Urdu
- بدترتیب کرنا, خلط ملط کرنا, مبہم کرنا
muddle in Bengali
- বিশৃঙ্খল অবস্থা, তালগোল পাকানো, বিভ্রান্তি
More languagesFewer languages
- muddle in Malayalam
- സ്ഥാനം തെറ്റിച്ച് വെക്കുക, ആശയക്കുഴപ്പം ഉണ്ടാക്കുക, ലഹരിപിടിപ്പിക്കുക, കൂട്ടിക്കുഴയ്ക്കുക
- muddle in Kannada
- ಅವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ, ಗಲಿಬಿಲಿ, ತೊಡಕು, ತಬ್ಬಿಬ್ಬು
- muddle in Arabic
- ارتباك, تخبط
Examples of muddle in a sentence
- I’ve only had a few lessons, but I can muddle through the test.
- The film was technically superb but narratively muddled.
- Whenever I meet the twins, I always muddle up their names. I call John Jim, and Jim John.
Forms of muddle
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | muddles |
| present participle | muddling |
| past participle | muddled |
| past | muddled |
| Noun | |
| plural | muddles |
Origin of muddle
From Middle English modelen (attested in present participle modeland (“wallowing”)), from Middle Dutch moddelen (“to make muddy”), from modde, mod (“mud”) (Modern Dutch modder). By surface analysis, mud + -le. Compare German Kuddelmuddel.
Words formed from muddle
Words that rhyme with muddle
Questions about muddle
- What does muddle mean?
- Muddle means to mix together, to mix up; to confuse.
- What is muddle in Hindi?
- Muddle in Hindi is पचड़ा (pacṛā). See Muddle meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is muddle?
- Muddle can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce muddle?
- Muddle is pronounced /ˈmʌdl̩/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of muddle?
- The past tense of muddle is muddled.
Words near muddle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: muddle (page history and authors); पचड़ा (Hindi) (page history and authors); muddle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muddle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muddle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muddle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); muddle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-muddle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “muddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/muddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.