(v. t.) To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
(v. t.) To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
(v. t.) To mix confusedly; to confuse; to make a mess of; as, to muddle matters; also, to perplex; to mystify.
(v. i.) To dabble in mud.
(v. i.) To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
(n.) A state of being turbid or confused; hence, intellectual cloudiness or dullness.
Example Sentences:
(1) Of course, every divorce is costly; but muddling through would be even more costly.
(2) The failure to make the single currency work with a wider group of countries means that the attempt to muddle through has reached the end of its natural life.
(3) Instead, we're likely to be stuck with more muddling-through.
(4) "In this era where we see growing open-mindedness, his actions are muddle-headed and careless," said the letter, which was briefly posted to the internet before it was taken down by censors .
(5) Although it remains unclear why he chose to place the muddled woman in a kitchen – clinging to her mug and surrounded by children's toys – as opposed to say, in a laboratory or a truck, he claims all the words were authentically spoken by "women in dozens of focus groups around the country", prior to being stitched together in this latest triumph for the fashionable, verbatim school of drama.
(6) McCluskey, with Unite probably Labour’s single largest donor, has claimed Labour lost the election not because it was too leftwing but largely because it had a muddled message on austerity and lacked a coherent narrative linking together individually popular policies.
(7) A toxic mix of cuts and muddled thinking about personalisation has led some to suggest that social work is an optional extra in adult social care.
(8) Hungry delphiniums, water-loving astilbe and drought-tolerant lupins would all be muddled together, with the thirstiest plants dictating the watering regime.
(9) United were sterile in possession, the ball was given away with monotonous regularity in dangerous positions and their muddled thinking was encapsulated by the sight of Phil Jones taking a couple of corners and Neil Swarbrick, the referee, penalising Antonio Valencia for a foul throw.
(10) Having read her book and met her, however, I wouldn't be surprised if the debate becomes muddled with how she presents her case – because she annoyed me so much when we met, we almost ended up having a row, despite the fact that I agree with a great deal of what she says.
(11) Drinks at Jade Bar are in keeping with the spa setting: fruity and herbaceous “muddles” (alcoholic or not) are a speciality, and the bartenders host mixology sessions on Sundays, or by appointment.
(12) At the time they were stressful – battling with traffic, fights over radio stations, squabbles over who was going to sit in the front seat and listening to a muddle of languages together with drama lines and songs to be sung.
(13) Sara Parkin London • It is very apposite of Zoe Williams ( Opinion , 25 February) to quote Roberto Unger with regard to the supposed “unmasking” of the Green party leader as some kind of political fraud; namely, she tried to answer a question directly and got into a bit of a muddle.
(14) Sean Spicer muddles answer when pressed on Trump and Russia investigation Read more Page, like Trump, has challenged US policy towards Russia and called for warmer relations between the two countries.
(15) Like Rona Jaffe's novel of the 50s, The Best of Everything – a book that Rakoff loves and reread before she started work on My Salinger Year – it is concerned with what it feels like to move to the big city, to take on your first job, and to struggle to survive on a tiny salary when all the while your dreams are seemingly being snuffed out at every turn, and your love life is spiralling into muddle and mayhem.
(16) Wallace is a hopeless deadpan dropout, a loser in love and a bumbling muddle.
(17) This is a very badly timed speech, showing some very muddled and dangerous thinking.
(18) The substitutions were muddle-headed, the team too negative, he might have won the World Cup but now he had lost it.
(19) The reality for many disabled people is it’s a muddle and a minefield to have an easy pee.
(20) 'A tremendous wrench': Sir Ivan Rogers's resignation email in full Read more He wrote: “I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power.
Obfuscate
Definition:
(a.) Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.
(v. t.) To darken; to obscure; to becloud; hence, to confuse; to bewilder.
Example Sentences:
(1) Serving on the government's Renewables Advisory Board from 2003 to 2006, I witnessed what cynics could easily have mistaken for a deliberate campaign of delay, obfuscation, and the parking, if not torpedoing, of good ideas coming from industry members of the board."
(2) This obfuscates insight into the role of DCIS in the development of invasive cancer of the breast.
(3) It seemed to me watching the film that the concept of the cloud was another great piece of airy obfuscation on the part of the internet corporations, who like to peddle the childlike and the playful in the way that banks used to flog you credit cards called Smile and Egg and Marbles and Goldfish, to encourage you not to think too hard about the small print (what could possibly go wrong?).
(4) The issues related to breast-feeding and problems of the puerperium are often obfuscated by the general but outdated practice of recommending cessation of lactation.
(5) Manafort says such allegations are “pure obfuscation” and that there are no ties between the Trump campaign and the regime of Vladimir Putin.
(6) Putin is a cunning negotiator with the skills of a KGB colonel, varying between brute force, charm and obfuscation.
(7) Child poverty is, if it means anything after all this obfuscation, a lack of resources.
(8) There were euphemisms (“an incident”, “an inappropriate action on my part”); there were vague and reassuring references to the woman (“she has accepted my apology”); and there were mind-your-own-business obfuscations (“a deeply personal business”).
(9) This new party’s swelling ranks want no more of the old politics, no more caution and obfuscation, no more talking tough while sneaking in good by stealth.
(10) The failure of William Hague to contact the family directly after Abbas's sudden disappearance in Syria is a terrible obfuscation of duty, but Sayeeda Warsi's telephone call to his mother in which she asserts that Fatima should be happy that she had returned her call but there was nothing the government could do is staggering in its lack of humanity.
(11) On Thursday, what was left of the obfuscation and denial was swept aside by Sir Peter Gibson, a retired appeal court judge.
(12) Likewise Jacques Anouma, whom the Sunday Times this month accused under parliamentary privilege of receiving $1.5m in bribes from the Qatar World Cup bid – which he denies – faces accusations in his homeland of obfuscation.
(13) Suspicion about politicians’ motives is compounded by the strong view that the media seek to obfuscate rather than clarify.
(14) At times it has obfuscated its message on the bailout but Syriza's most impressive sleight of hand has been its attempt to appeal to incompatible constituencies.
(15) In his rebuttal, he said that they were the "usual tired obfuscation and generalisation".
(16) MPs have condemned the "collective amnesia" and "deliberate obfuscation" by the News of the World in giving evidence to the Commons select committee inquiry into illegal phone hacking.
(17) Stop obfuscating, David Cameron: we need transparency now | Wes Streeting Read more He added: “If these leaks reveal that EU law has been broken, or loopholes in our legislation have been highlighted, the commission will take, of course, appropriate action immediately.” Moscovici, a former French finance minister who has been leading EU efforts on tax transparency, urged member states to throw their support behind his plans for a blacklist of tax havens – an idea dismissed last year by UK officials.
(18) The committee said it had "repeatedly encountered an unwillingness to provide the detailed information that we sought, claims of ignorance or lack of recall and deliberate obfuscation".
(19) That's the precise opposite of the cover-up, obfuscate-and-deny culture that served News International so balefully through the years of hacking denial.
(20) The committee accused the commissioner of "confusion and obfuscation" about how much information it holds on which public figures have been targeted by journalists and investigators trying to obtain information illegally.