muddy
v.v. to make something less clear or more confusing. You use this when someone adds unnecessary details that make a simple situation harder to understand.
v. to obscure or confuse a situation, issue, or argument. Often used metaphorically to describe the introduction of irrelevant information that complicates a clear-cut matter.
Adding too many details will only muddy the story.
The lawyer tried to muddy the waters by bringing up the witness's personal life during the trial.
The introduction of conflicting data served only to muddy the debate, preventing the committee from reaching a consensus on the environmental impact of the new factory.
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English muddi, moddy, muddy (“covered with or full of mud, muddy”), from mud, mudde (“mud; turbid water”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Mud, mudde is possibly borrowed from Middle Dutch modde, and/or Middle Low German modde, mudde, from Proto-Germanic mud-, mudra- (“mud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European mū-, mew- (“moist”). The English word is analysable as mud + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). Doublet of muddle. The verb is derived from the adjective. cognates * Middle Low German moddich, muddich (German Low German muddig (“muddy; mouldy”))
From mud (crab) + -y (diminutive suffix).
The verb is transitive and frequently appears in the idiomatic phrase 'muddy the waters'.
He muddied about the factsHe muddied the factsMuddy is a transitive verb and requires a direct object without a preposition.
- 01
knee-deep in the Big Muddy
Stuck in a predicament; mired in a difficult situation, especially one resulting from poor judgment or bad leadership.
- 02
muddy the waters
To make something unclear and difficult to understand.
- 03
muddy up
To confuse (an issue or situation); to obscure or obfuscate (an issue or situation).