muddle
Plural: muddles
Noun
- a confused multitude of things
- informal terms for a difficult situation
- "he made a muddle of his marriage"
- A mixture; a confusion; a garble.
- A mixture of crushed ingredients, as prepared with a muddler.
- A muddy mess.
- A servant's attendant; underservant.
Verb
Verb Forms: muddled, muddling, muddles
- To mix something in a confused or disordered manner; to confuse.
- make into a puddle
- mix up or confuse
- "He muddled the issues"
- To mix together, to mix up; to confuse.
- To mash slightly for use in a cocktail.
- To dabble in mud.
- To make turbid or muddy.
- To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
- To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
- To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
Examples
- He muddled the mint sprigs in the bottom of the glass.
- Some players deliberately muddle the board to disrupt their opponent’s Scrabble strategy.
- The muddle of nervous speech he uttered did not have much meaning.
- Young children tend to muddle their words.
Origin / Etymology
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.
Synonyms
addle, clutter, fix, fuddle, hole, jam, jumble, kettle of fish, mare's nest, mess, pickle, puddle, smother, welter
Scrabble Score: 10
muddle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmuddle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
muddle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary