Phrase guide

clear as mud

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unclear; difficult or impossible to understand or interpret.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, sarcastic

Qualifier: simile

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: muddied, muddy, muddled, muddle-headed

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: muddied, muddy, muddled, muddle-headed

Antonyms: clear as day, apparent, arrant, undoubted, glaring, bait, blatant, clear, clear as a bell, clear cut, conspicuous, crystal clear, cut and dried, decided, elucidate, evident, eyely, intuitive, manifest, notable, noticeable, obvious, open-and-shut, ostensible, palpable, patent, plain, plain as a haystack, plain as a pikestaff, plain as day, plain as Dunstable highway, plain as porridge, plain as print, plain as Salisbury, plain as the nose on one's face, prima facie, res ipsa loquitur, splendent, straightforward, undissembled

History

Etymology

Blend of clear as day + mud. Compare muddy (“unclear, blurry”).

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: samea — unclear
  • Finnish: läpinäkymätön — unclear
  • Hungarian: világos, mint a vakablak — unclear
  • Hungarian: se füle, se farka — unclear
  • Polish: mętny — unclear
  • Polish: zagmatwany — unclear
  • Swedish: klart som lervälling — unclear