MUDDLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does muddle mean? 

• MUDDLE (noun)
  The noun MUDDLE has 2 senses:

1. a confused multitude of things

2. informal terms for a difficult situation

  Familiarity information: MUDDLE used as a noun is rare.

• MUDDLE (verb)
  The verb MUDDLE has 2 senses:

1. make into a puddle

2. mix up or confuse

  Familiarity information: MUDDLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUDDLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A confused multitude of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

clutter; fuddle; jumble; mare's nest; muddle; smother; welter

Hypernyms ("muddle" is a kind of...):

disorder; disorderliness (a condition in which things are not in their expected places)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "muddle"):

rummage (a jumble of things to be given away)

Derivation:

muddle (mix up or confuse)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Informal terms for a difficult situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle

Context example:

he made a muddle of his marriage

Hypernyms ("muddle" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "muddle"):

dog's breakfast; dog's dinner (a poor job; a mess)

• MUDDLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they muddle    ... he / she / it muddles   
Past simple: muddled   
Past participle: muddled   
-ing form: muddling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make into a puddle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

muddle; puddle

Context example:

puddled mire

Hypernyms (to "muddle" is one way to...):

rile; roil (make turbid by stirring up the sediments of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mix up or confuse

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

addle; muddle; puddle

Context example:

He muddled the issues

Hypernyms (to "muddle" is one way to...):

confuse; jumble; mix up (assemble without order or sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

muddle (a confused multitude of things)

 Context examples 

I've been working away at mathematics till my head is in a muddle, and I'm going to freshen my wits by a brisk turn.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Mas'r Davy, he added; answering, as I think, my look; you han't no call to be afeerd of me: but I'm kiender muddled; I don't fare to feel no matters,—which was as much as to say that he was not himself, and quite confounded.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"I don't want you to do anything but be civil to him and help to the pudding. You'll give me your advice if I get in a muddle, won't you?" asked Jo, rather hurt.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You'll spoil it if you do, for the interest of the story is more in the minds than in the actions of the people, and it will be all a muddle if you don't explain as you go on, said Meg, who firmly believed that this book was the most remarkable novel ever written.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)