murky
adjective
ˈmər-kē 
murkier; murkiest
1
: characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke
the murky bottom of the lake
2
: characterized by thickness and heaviness of air : foggy, misty
rain poured down from murky skies 
Newsweek
Newsweek3
: darkly vague or obscure
murky official rhetoric
He offered a murky explanation.
murkily
ˈmər-kə-lē
adverb murkiness
ˈmər-kē-nəs
noun 
Synonyms
- black
- caliginous
- dark
- darkened
- darkish
- darkling
- darksome
- dim
- dimmed
- dusk
- dusky
- gloomy
- lightless
- obscure
- obscured
- pitch-black
- pitch-dark
- pitchy
- rayless
- somber
- sombre
- stygian
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- unlit
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
She peered into one of the church's murky chapels. a politician with a murky past
Recent Examples on the Web Desperate locals have dug 60 feet down into a dry river bed in search of water, passing the murky mix up in a bucket brigade to a trough where herders wait with thirsty cattle. Michael M. Phillips, WSJ, 12 Sep. 2022 The complex tapestry — the competing missions, the murky motivations — brings to mind a damning confession about the conflict made by General Douglas Lute, who oversaw the war operations under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2022 The crown features thousands of diamonds, including the infamous 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond from India, which came into British hands and the Crown Jewels by murky means in the colonial era. Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2022 If the technical details seem murky to non-experts, the reputation risk of the bitcoin model is clear-cut, said Larry Newhook, CEO of Alpha Innovations, an asset management firm. Tim Mcdonnell, Quartz, 7 Sep. 2022 Thousands of dead fish are washing ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area as a harmful algal bloom—called a red tide—turns local waters a murky reddish-brown. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Sep. 2022 And in an ethically murky turn, for those in the field who have begun to dabble in the corporate side of psychedelics, hyping up findings has become of obvious interest. WIRED, 2 Sep. 2022 The recently red-brown, murky shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland have been linked to the largest algae bloom in the region's recent history, officials said. Kyla Guilfoil, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2022 Like many beloved food items, the exact origin of churros is more than murky. Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Aug. 2022 See More
Michael M. Phillips, WSJ, 12 Sep. 2022 The complex tapestry — the competing missions, the murky motivations — brings to mind a damning confession about the conflict made by General Douglas Lute, who oversaw the war operations under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2022 The crown features thousands of diamonds, including the infamous 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond from India, which came into British hands and the Crown Jewels by murky means in the colonial era. Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2022 If the technical details seem murky to non-experts, the reputation risk of the bitcoin model is clear-cut, said Larry Newhook, CEO of Alpha Innovations, an asset management firm. Tim Mcdonnell, Quartz, 7 Sep. 2022 Thousands of dead fish are washing ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area as a harmful algal bloom—called a red tide—turns local waters a murky reddish-brown. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Sep. 2022 And in an ethically murky turn, for those in the field who have begun to dabble in the corporate side of psychedelics, hyping up findings has become of obvious interest. WIRED, 2 Sep. 2022 The recently red-brown, murky shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland have been linked to the largest algae bloom in the region's recent history, officials said. Kyla Guilfoil, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2022 Like many beloved food items, the exact origin of churros is more than murky. Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing murky
Kids Definition
murky
adjective
ˈmər-kē
murkier; murkiest
1
: very dark or foggy
murky skies
2
: cloudy sense 2
murky water
3
: not clearly expressed or understood
The details were murky and vague. Lois Lowry, The Giver
Lois Lowry, The Givermurky
adjective
1
as in darkened
being without light or without much light I didn't like walking around the murky campground without a flashlight Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- darkened
- dark
- obscured
- obscure
- black
- gloomy
- dim
- stygian
- somber
- lightless
- dusky
- darkish
- darkling
- dimmed
- unlit
- tenebrous
- dusk
- darksome
- caliginous
- rayless
- sombre
- pitchy
- shadowy
- misty
- shady
- pitch-dark
- pitch-black
- twilit
- clouded
- cloudy
- gray
- crepuscular
- foggy
- starless
- moonless
- lackluster
- tenebrific
- pale
- dulled
- dull
- grey
- smoggy
- sunless
- shadowlike
- soupy
- leaden
- fuliginous
- beclouded
- befogged
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- light
- bright
- luminous
- brilliant
- illuminated
- sparkling
- lucid
- lucent
- shining
- lighted
- illumined
- brightened
- resplendent
- glaring
- lit
- glowing
- incandescent
- lightsome
- radiant
- shiny
- lustrous
- glossy
- effulgent
- beamy
- lambent
- alight
- beaming
- moonlit
- sunlit
- spotlit
- highlighted
- aglitter
- moony
- relucent
- agleam
- ultrabright
- starlit
- spotlighted
- ablaze
- floodlit
- floodlighted
2
as in dark
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer the murky shadows of the cemetery Synonyms & Similar Words
- dark
- bleak
- darkening
- somber
- depressive
- lonely
- depressing
- desolate
- gray
- cold
- blue
- morbid
- lonesome
- solemn
- gloomy
- cloudy
- black
- miserable
- dismal
- grey
- dreary
- cheerless
- wretched
- sullen
- lugubrious
- dire
- chill
- sad
- depressed
- tenebrous
- glum
- morose
- oppressive
- drear
- godforsaken
- forlorn
- funereal
- sepulchral
- saturnine
- melancholy
- sombre
- disconsolate
- elegiac
- comfortless
- sunless
- plutonian
- dreich
- dim
- unhappy
- grim
- dull
- elegiacal
- desperate
- hopeless
- negative
- menacing
- discomfiting
- melancholic
- woeful
- mournful
- woebegone
- tenebrific
- dismaying
- low
- dejected
- distressful
- dispiriting
- discouraging
- upsetting
- mirthless
- down
- Cimmerian
- pessimistic
- drab
- distressing
- disheartening
- droopy
- colorless
- sorrowful
- despondent
- lamentable
- hangdog
- inconsolable
- plaintive
- dour
- threatening
- lowery
- louring
- lowering
- loury
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- bright
- cheerful
- friendly
- cheery
- festive
- sunshiny
- cordial
- comforting
- joyous
- buoyant
- gay
- merry
- joyful
- jolly
- optimistic
- blithe
- gay
- mirthful
- hopeful
- encouraging
- heartwarming
- blithesome
- cheering
- jocund
- lighthearted
- lightsome
3
as in hazy
filled with or dimmed by fine particles (as of dust or water) in suspension skies made murky from the smoke of forest fires that were many miles to the west Synonyms & Similar Words
- hazy
- misty
- clouded
- rainy
- foggy
- muddy
- cloudy
- thick
- smoggy
- smoky
- milky
- soupy
- beclouded
- gauzy
- befogged
- turbid
- slimy
- mucky
- overcast
- miasmic
- stormy
- brumous
- slushy
- opaque
- dirty
- smudgy
- miry
- miasmal
- sooty
- miasmatic
- filmy
- smokey
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- clear
- limpid
- bright
- cloudless
- clean
- unclouded
- pellucid
- sunny
- transparent
- fair
- translucent
- sunshiny
- clement
4
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning a murky reply to a question about his intentions Synonyms & Similar Words
- ambiguous
- dark
- cryptic
- obscure
- mysterious
- enigmatic
- vague
- unclear
- mystic
- opaque
- nebulous
- esoteric
- questionable
- inscrutable
- uncertain
- deep
- enigmatical
- occult
- equivocal
- confusing
- arcane
- hazy
- complicated
- fuliginous
- muddy
- shadowy
- obscurant
- fuzzy
- foggy
- eerie
- weird
- elliptical
- indistinct
- misty
- clouded
- shrouded
- cloudy
- difficult
- recondite
- elliptic
- uncanny
- abstruse
- complex
- double-edged
- dim
- cloaked
- Delphic
- undefined
- faint
- incomprehensible
- shaded
- disguised
- inexplicable
- perplexing
- indirect
- puzzling
- bewildering
- beclouded
- undetermined
- indecipherable
- concealed
- baffling
- inexact
- masked
- befogged
- indefinite
- eery
- indistinguishable
- unknowable
- invisible
- impenetrable
- intangible
- obfuscatory
- mystifying
- noncommittal
- unfathomable
- confounding
- inexplicit
- impalpable
- unanswerable
- shadowlike
- obscurantic
- sphinxlike
- obtuse
- inappreciable
- circuitous
- bedimmed
- roundabout
- obnubilated
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- clear
- obvious
- plain
- unambiguous
- understandable
- distinct
- bright
- unequivocal
- accessible
- certain
- comprehensible
- evident
- legible
- intelligible
- knowable
- strong
- pellucid
- sure
- fathomable
- firm
- nonambiguous
- straightforward
- defined
- explicit
- direct
- visible
- definite
- determined
- tangible
- exact
- self-explanatory
- self-evident
- appreciable
- unmistakable
- palpable
- blatant
- patent
5
as in vague
not seen or understood clearly a gubernatorial candidate with a murky position on the hot-button issue of capital punishment Synonyms & Similar Words
- vague
- hazy
- faint
- shadowy
- dark
- nebulous
- unclear
- foggy
- indistinct
- misty
- opaque
- fuzzy
- pale
- obscure
- blurry
- undefined
- dim
- bleary
- undetermined
- gauzy
- indefinite
- indistinguishable
- blear
- gloomy
- dusky
- mysterious
- invisible
- intangible
- puzzling
- incomprehensible
- inexplicable
- indiscernible
- impalpable
- indecipherable
- inappreciable
- obfuscatory
- hieroglyphic
- hieroglyphical
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- clear
- definite
- obvious
- distinct
- bright
- pellucid
- plain
- evident
- certain
- strong
- sure
- firm