murky
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 14
- Words With Friends
- 15
- Letters
- 5
/ˈmɜː(ɹ)ki/
Definition of murky
4 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included
adj
-
Hard to see through, as a fog or mist.
“The Streets of London, to be beheld in the very height of their glory, should be seen on a dark, dull, murky, winter's night, when there is just enough damp gently stealing down to make the pavement greasy without cleansing it of any of its impurities, […]”
See all 4 definitions Show less
adj
-
Hard to see through, as a fog or mist.
“The Streets of London, to be beheld in the very height of their glory, should be seen on a dark, dull, murky, winter's night, when there is just enough damp gently stealing down to make the pavement greasy without cleansing it of any of its impurities, […]”
-
Dark, dim, gloomy.
“Ferdinand: As I hope / For quite dayes, faire Iſſue, and long life, / With ſuch loue, as 'tis now the murkieſt den, / The moſt opportune place, the ſtrongſt ſuggeſtion, / Our worſer Genius can, shall neuer melt / Mine honor into luſt,[…]”
“The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program got murkier Tuesday when the Texas attorney general made good on a threat to challenge it in court.”
-
Cloudy, indistinct, obscure.
“murky waters”
“murky territory”
“He became for a short time delirious, in consequence of attempting to comprehend the works of Mr. Nebulous, in which the English language is exhibited casting of summersets, with many prancings to and fro, before earnest-gazing, head-scratching readers, in murkiest obscuration, marvel stricken, with maddest humour and grinning contortions, heels-over-head, wondrous!”
“Offshore investment is among the murkiest sectors of the financial world. That’s by design – keeping money offshore can help shield money from tax authorities, obscure its origin and conceal the genuine owners.”
“They may face an impenetrable word, approach its murky history from every direction, and fail to find a convincing solution (or even any solution: “origin unknow,” “the rest is unclear,” and the like).”
-
(broadly)Dishonest, shady.
“Ever since X-Men: First Class set the series' clock back a few decades and installed Michael Fassbender's moody Magneto and James McAvoy's louche Charles Xavier as replacements for Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart's chess-playing pappies, the big-screen X-Men's central conflict—Xavier's Booker T. Washington-esque School For Gifted Youngsters vs. a rogue's gallery of evil mutants, crew cuts, and politicos—has gotten a lot murkier.”
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
From Middle English mirky. Related to Old Norse myrkr, Russian мрак (mrak) and its Slavic cognates. By surface analysis, murk + -y.
Words you can make from murky
8 playable · top: MURK (10 pts)
Best play murk 10 points3-letter words
4 words2-letter words
3 wordsFind your best play with murky
See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes murky, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.