| 释义 |
Definition of muddle in English: muddleverb ˈmʌd(ə)lˈmədl [with object]1Bring into a disordered or confusing state. 把…弄乱；使…难以理解 they were muddling up the cards 他们正在把牌洗乱。 Example sentencesExamples - Getting into that whole cluster would become very confusing quickly, since we've got overlapping issues, aside from Vietnam muddling up the mix.
- I wonder if you could clarify for our viewers in the United States and around the world exactly what your position is because it's sort of been muddled by various reports.
- His efforts are in vain, however, as he only succeeds in muddling the central story while completely disengaging us from the characters on the screen.
- What is especially disappointing is that the whole election is in danger of becoming just another popularity contest, as many of the candidates have muddled their stances beyond recognition.
- Ridley's erudition, for me, often muddles his message.
- The problem here is the same as it's always been: too many conflicting backstories for the character either muddles the plot along the way, or it mucks up the ending [guess which one we're at now].
- I felt that this muddles the clarity of what they are both trying to say.
- In trying to explain the complex mythological system of the show, all the creators have done is muddle an already chaotic mess.
- He might have got it slightly muddled up from time to time, but he always knew.
- We believe it has got it all hopelessly muddled; it is unlikely to agree.
- Further muddling the message is what's included in the bonus materials.
- The two teams certainly entered into the seasonal spirit, if a little confusion muddled the role-playing.
- However, I do not want to further muddle an already confusing issue with what, for most of us, are technicalities.
- Time is indeed of the essence: the wall is muddling the USA's ‘Roadmap,’ and organized resistance has begun.
- Unfortunately their findings were muddled in a story last week on the BBC News Online website - an error pounced on by politicians anxious to defend an important Scottish industry.
- I had even put in soft lenses, which always hurt so badly, so that I didn't have to have glasses muddling up my face.
- The Commerce Committee, even though it refrained from making a recommendation, has pointed out that the passage of this law would just add confusion to an already muddled area.
- But by using hyperbole and muddling the difference between repressive regimes and the imperfections of democracy, Amnesty's spokesmen put its authority at risk.
- This confusion muddles a key point about contemporary American life.
- To continue to seek bipartisan consensus on legislation muddles the debate and squanders an opportunity to create a record of difference between the parties for 2002 and 2004.
- ‘This cannot be, you died,’ she said in a small voice, confusion muddling her face.
- The tale is muddled in its telling, with a clutter of secondary characters.
Synonyms confuse, mix up, jumble, jumble up, disarrange, disorganize, disorder, disturb, throw into disorder, get into a tangle, scramble, mess up jumbled, in a jumble, in a muddle, in a mess, chaotic, in disorder, in disarray, topsy-turvy, disorganized, disordered, disorderly, out of place, out of order, mixed up, upside-down, at sixes and sevens, untidy, messy, scrambled, tangled informal higgledy-piggledy - 1.1 Confuse (a person or their thoughts)
使糊涂 Paul was hopelessly muddled by the rates of exchange Example sentencesExamples - I had taken in too many impressions; too many thoughts muddled my mind.
- Many rabid political partisans are so thin-skinned that any unfavorable truth about their heroes muddles their thinking.
- He was still muddled in his thoughts when the servants took away the last course - mostly untouched, as the silence and sobriety had damaged everyone's appetite.
- Must have been the oncoming cold muddling my brain.
- My more muddled position is that bringing Paine's words and ideas into our world is like trying to plant cut flowers.
- When I made my witness statement I was muddled in the accounts which I gave in paragraph 6 and paragraph 8.
- You sensed it all along, but the knowledge was hopelessly muddled by the inherent drive to author new life.
- I was so muddled at the thought that he had almost kissed me that the words never registered.
- Although he is clear about the present nature of barbarism, he is rather muddled about his conception of socialism.
- I cursed my hormonal body for muddling up my thinking.
- His thoughts were muddled with emotions, and he wasn't sure of anything.
- I'm just following my somewhat muddled thoughts where they take me.
- Mechanics is mathematicians trying to be physicists, but not quite managing it and just muddling me.
- She shook her head, the strange conversation muddling her thoughts.
- The problem with this definition of expectations is that it muddles customers' judgments and their estimates of probability.
- Paul snapped to attention, Tessa muddling his thoughts.
- Liberals gravitate toward the gray to muddy the waters, to muddle people's thinking.
- As an essayist, he's often contradictory and more than a bit muddled.
- All this action does is muddle the faithful and bring the faith into needless disrepute.
Synonyms bewilder, confuse, bemuse, perplex, puzzle, baffle, nonplus, mystify, confound, disorientate, disorient, befuddle, daze, addle confused, in a state of confusion, bewildered, bemused, perplexed, disorientated, disoriented, at sea, in a muddle, befuddled, dazed informal discombobulated Canadian & Australian/New Zealand informal bushed incoherent, confused, muddle-headed, woolly, jumbled, disjointed - 1.2no object, with adverbial Busy oneself in an aimless or ineffective way.
懵懵懂懂地白忙 he was muddling about in the kitchen 他正在厨房里瞎忙一气。 Example sentencesExamples - That would preclude idiots from muddling around in areas they have no knowledge of.
- Although a problem in computer ethics may seem clear initially, a little reflection reveals a conceptual muddle.
- After muddling around for a few days, he comes out fully in favor of the government's position and vows to endorse whatever the government proposes in relation to boat people.
- For a number of years I've been muddling in the mire of trying to figure out who and what I am in relation to church, denomination, God etc.
- I'm just muddling around here like an ant in a potplant, not always realizing there are larger things out there than my little world.
- In fact, the Penguins muddled to a sixth place finish in the regular season standings with a .500 record to become one of eight playoff qualifiers.
2Mix (a drink) or stir (an ingredient) into a drink. 〈美〉调制（饮料）；调（酒） Example sentencesExamples - Place the mint, tangerine, lime juice and syrup in a shaker tin, muddle all ingredients together.
- In a mixing glass, moderately muddle syrup, bitters, mint, orange and lime together.
- Your barmen know how to muddle a mean Mojito, and house DJs pump out loud and happy vibes until late.
- Remember, showmanship behind the bar is a very important aspect of the job, and muddling provides bartenders a great chance to prove their worth.
- The finest leaves get muddled for the drink; imperfect leaves go into a simple syrup.
- Using a citrus reamer, muddle the leaves until they are dark green and pasty; the total volume should reduce by about half, and they should have released quite a bit of liquid.
- The Ginger and Pear Martini combines pear-infused gin with fresh ginger muddled with Frangelico and simple syrup.
- In a shaker, muddle the ginger, add the others, plus ice.
- In a bar glass, muddle the kiwi slices with the sugar.
- Soak with bitters and gently muddle with a spoon.
- Try the Opium Martini special: fresh root ginger muddled with homemade coriander syrup and shaken with a double shot of vodka.
- Requiring your bartenders to cut the lemons and muddle them in front of the customer each time a drink is ordered is too arduous.
- Instead of lime and sugar, we muddle oranges into the glass and use an orange syrup with the Bacardi.
- World class bar staff mix and muddle a variety of concoctions, from herb-infused cosmopolitans to fresh fruit Martinis.
noun ˈmʌd(ə)lˈmədl 1usually in singular An untidy and disorganized state or collection. 杂乱无章的状态；乱七八糟的一堆（东西） the finances were in a muddle 财务管理杂乱无章。 mass noun she was able to cut through confusion and muddle 她一举清除了混乱状态，这样的董事长令人钦佩。 Example sentencesExamples - Willy-nilly and no doubt unwillingly, he is then drawn into the fight; in an instant the man in the middle has become the man in a muddle and nothing at all has been achieved.
- Buffy moved away from him, her thoughts all in a muddle.
- After all, a similar impetus fuelled the expansion of the public libraries and made them what they were before they lost their way in a muddle of video tapes, CDs and computer programs.
- I've had flu since Friday, in a muddle of tissues and lying down, drowsily watching DVDs, and no appetite.
- Even if, like me, you think the polls are often in a muddle, they do tell a consistent story on economic management.
- If we attempt to separate these two according to outer procedures we shall end in a muddle.
- It is possible, as with most muddles in the world, that the answer lies in history.
- But Mr Ekins said he thought the Government's transport policy was in a muddle.
- Henry got himself into a hopeless muddle about his sublet offices.
- He says: ‘Ordinary events got Jennings in a muddle and we can identify with these.’
- In other hands it would dissolve into a hopeless muddle of ideas.
- He'd assembled a Catalogue of Printed Books at Middle Hill, but it seemed a hopeless muddle.
- What often becomes shockingly obvious is that the garden is in a muddle.
- At times it thinks it's a caper movie/thriller and on other occasions it wants to be seen as a comedy, but since it never commits to either approach, it ends up in a muddle.
- Talking through teeth gritted against the gelid wind, we converse in a muddle of French, English and Arabic.
- Still, I certainly and completely understand why you're all in a muddle.
- They'll quickly realise that their things can't be found in a muddle, or that clothes don't walk to the washing machine on their own.
- But the situation is, frankly, in a muddle right now.
- She dares us to dress down, to strip ourselves of our illusions and to acknowledge that, for most of the time, we live life in a muddle and ‘that every hour contains at least a moment of bewilderment or worse’.
- Our patient is crowned king and expected to sort out this delightfully convoluted muddle.
Synonyms untidiness, disorder, disarray, clutter, heap, shambles, litter, tangle, jumble, mishmash, chaos, confusion, disorganization, turmoil - 1.1 A mistake arising from or resulting in confusion.
混乱导致的错误；导致混乱的错误 官僚作风导致的混乱。 Example sentencesExamples - Here in India, especially in relatively small cities like Dehra Doon, it feels like half magic a lot of the time and the only way to live through the muddles is to be determined to find them funny.
- Apart from my methodological muddles, what should we make of the oscillations in fossil diversity?
- It was all well intentioned but that's the old muddle.
- Somehow, expenses muddles are tolerated in the Commons, where it is considered rather indecent to question what members do with their cash.
- Most of them were muddles, rather than deliberately murderous delinquencies.
- She recently had a call from an ex-foster child who said, ‘I've rung to talk to you about my worries and muddles because I could always talk to you.’
- The whole affair was, he insisted, a "muddle rather than a fiddle".
- The mayor is willing to get right in the middle of a bureaucratic muddle - to wade right in and say no to people.
- The four great battles of Cassino brought to a head all the muddles and contradictions of the Italian campaign.
- Despite the muddles of his campaign, his message won him nearly 49% of the votes.
- Firstly, she sorted out a problem I referred to her about muddles with my mum's pension credit.
- But the bureaucratic muddle began after ministers farmed the project out to the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities, the umbrella body for councils.
- Where does this leave a poet who writes in his own muddles, creates his own errata?
- Npower has now sorted out the muddle, apologised to you and sent you a goodwill payment.
- Shaw, to give him his credit, is trying to sort the muddle out.
- True, there were muddles and ostrich-like behaviour.
- Small firms are choking to death in a planning process increasingly marked by bureaucratic muddle and delay.
- Fast-moving fun for younger viewers, centring on Lizzie Forbes, whose overworked imagination often embroils her in misunderstandings, muddles and miscellaneous mayhem.
Synonyms bungle, mix-up, misunderstanding, mistake informal hash, foul-up, screw-up British informal car crash North American informal snafu vulgar slang fuck-up British vulgar slang balls-up
Phrasal VerbsCope more or less satisfactorily despite lack of expertise, planning, or equipment. 差强人意地应付，设法应付 while the children were young, we managed to muddle through Example sentencesExamples - Both have their own special charm, but whereas Paris is all about order, London is all about muddling through.
- There was I, muddling blithely along, thinking that give and take would get me and my Other Half through those rare, but bracing episodes of discord Americans refer to as ‘learning experiences’.
- All too often, gifted children have to muddle through.
- I noticed this morning that London Bridge station, after years of muddling through without a logo, has gained one.
- But generally - and I say this knowing full well that I am tempting every fate known to man - we have managed to muddle along quite well.
- Y'know you're just muddling along in a better-than-average indie band and suddenly you're proclaimed the saviours of rock-and-roll.
- ‘They are experts, but we just muddle along,’ said Mr Cross.
- Yet somehow I have managed to muddle through and have not done too badly out of life.
- When I left my husband I knew it would be tough and I told myself we'd have to muddle through.
- Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast guidelines for us to follow - we just have to muddle through, minds fogged by desire.
- Restructuring will be disruptive for the top management of the industry, but it cannot afford to muddle along any longer.
- However, I have enough faith in the inherent common sense of the human race to believe that we will, as ever, just manage to muddle through.
- So there you are, muddling along with your new bog-standard toaster, when you get a surprise gift of a top-of-the-range model.
- Under the present law there are several options, the least effective of which is to do nothing and hope those affected can muddle through.
- It was not a particularly happy union, though they muddled along in the end.
- My brain is frantically muddling through, trying to make sense of what's happening to me.
- We can be Asian Welsh, Afro-Caribbean Scottish, Pakistani English, and all somehow muddle through together.
- Those of us who'd been happily muddling along for years and years were faced with a ‘for us or against us’ ultimatum from the more political of our younger brothers and sisters.
- ‘We just manage to muddle through but it's a bit of a strain over seven weeks,’ says Kenny Kingshott.
- All this makes for some short-term optimism, and even a feeling that we may somehow muddle through - but the longer-term odds are a different matter.
Synonyms cope, manage, get along, get by, scrape along, scrape by, make do, make the best of a bad job
Confuse two or more things with each other. 混淆 the words seemed to have got muddled up 这些词似乎被混淆了。 Example sentencesExamples - Thus, the matter is muddled up as a manager-employee conflict instead of a pure freedom of expression issue.
- No one could possibly object, for example, if marks were deducted for failing to remember the poem, or for muddling up the verses, or for serious errors of pronunciation.
- I think a lot of people muddle celebrities up with soaps.
- That's another kettle of fish entirely and I despair of physicians and others who confuse and muddle invalidity and melancholy as being one and the same thing.
- Meanwhile, an amusing apology from the Star Tribune for muddling up ‘profligate’ and ‘prolific’.
- And so, because I didn't want to go through the rest of my life eating the wrong food and muddling homeopaths up with homosexuals, I selected the weakest lenses and set about choosing some frames.
- "She has a sharp mind but can sometimes get her priorities muddled up.
- Sadly, that doesn't stop the objectors muddling fact and fiction, as if their main source were Frankenstein, which was a novel written in the 19th century, of all the far away places.
- This tension in the bill comes from it muddling the issue of compensating prisoners for unlawful treatment by the crown with compensating their victims for pain and suffering.
- Members of the community with intellectual disabilities will be thrilled about this bill, because they have always felt they are muddled up with people with mental ill-health.
- He'll muddle it up; which is the illusion and which is real life?
- Mr Smith was dyslexic as a youngster and he used to muddle words up; he may have misunderstood matters.
Derivativesnoun ˈmʌdlɪŋˈmʌd(ə)lɪŋˈməd(ə)lɪŋ mass noun1The action or process of bringing something into a disordered or confusing state. 把…弄乱；使…难以理解 the muddling of fact and fiction is a tried-and-true tactic of totalitarian regimes Example sentencesExamples - in singular one of the points that he makes is that there was a muddling of the messages
- Great achievements don't spring into existence fully fledged with greatness; they grow out of life's mundane, muddling debates, and out of feats of patience.
- At first blissfully unaware of the looming nuclear catastrophe, their muddling path towards doom is in equal parts pathetic, frightening and funny.
- Out has gone the old, muddling approach, in has come good capital management methods, a tougher approach to diversification, and a commitment to boost returns.
- the muddling helps ensure that all the flavours are well blended
2The action or process of mixing a drink or stirring an ingredient into a drink. 〈美〉调制（饮料）；调（酒）
adverb ˈmʌdlɪŋliˈməd(ə)lɪŋli Despite the eyelocks and handholds and sunsets and stargazing, her relationship with V is muddlingly platonic. Example sentencesExamples - And too many parents are left muddlingly only among those who express sympathy and criticism, and don't help them along the road of seeing the gifts.
- ‘It's symbolic in that each voice is different, you know,’ he says, muddlingly.
adjective The principal objective will be the application of specific constructs to help ‘make sense of’ muddly organisational situations. Example sentencesExamples - The Economist gushed, ‘The muddly, statist, sort-of-socialist Egypt of old has become the very model of a modern emerging market.’
- But, the reason why it's a muddly subject is because they're being thick and pointless on purpose!
- He's the most muddly old thing and incidentally never finishes a sentence.
OriginLate Middle English (in the sense 'wallow in mud'): perhaps from Middle Dutch moddelen, frequentative of modden 'dabble in mud'; compare with mud. The sense 'confuse' was initially associated with alcoholic drink (late 17th century), giving rise to 'busy oneself in a confused way' and 'jumble up' (mid 19th century). Rhymesbefuddle, cuddle, fuddle, huddle, puddle, ruddle Definition of muddle in US English: muddleverbˈmədlˈmədl [with object]1Bring into a disordered or confusing state. 把…弄乱；使…难以理解 I fear he may have muddled the message they were muddling up the cards 他们正在把牌洗乱。 Example sentencesExamples - The Commerce Committee, even though it refrained from making a recommendation, has pointed out that the passage of this law would just add confusion to an already muddled area.
- In trying to explain the complex mythological system of the show, all the creators have done is muddle an already chaotic mess.
- His efforts are in vain, however, as he only succeeds in muddling the central story while completely disengaging us from the characters on the screen.
- This confusion muddles a key point about contemporary American life.
- What is especially disappointing is that the whole election is in danger of becoming just another popularity contest, as many of the candidates have muddled their stances beyond recognition.
- The problem here is the same as it's always been: too many conflicting backstories for the character either muddles the plot along the way, or it mucks up the ending [guess which one we're at now].
- I wonder if you could clarify for our viewers in the United States and around the world exactly what your position is because it's sort of been muddled by various reports.
- But by using hyperbole and muddling the difference between repressive regimes and the imperfections of democracy, Amnesty's spokesmen put its authority at risk.
- Unfortunately their findings were muddled in a story last week on the BBC News Online website - an error pounced on by politicians anxious to defend an important Scottish industry.
- I had even put in soft lenses, which always hurt so badly, so that I didn't have to have glasses muddling up my face.
- Further muddling the message is what's included in the bonus materials.
- However, I do not want to further muddle an already confusing issue with what, for most of us, are technicalities.
- Getting into that whole cluster would become very confusing quickly, since we've got overlapping issues, aside from Vietnam muddling up the mix.
- We believe it has got it all hopelessly muddled; it is unlikely to agree.
- ‘This cannot be, you died,’ she said in a small voice, confusion muddling her face.
- Time is indeed of the essence: the wall is muddling the USA's ‘Roadmap,’ and organized resistance has begun.
- To continue to seek bipartisan consensus on legislation muddles the debate and squanders an opportunity to create a record of difference between the parties for 2002 and 2004.
- He might have got it slightly muddled up from time to time, but he always knew.
- I felt that this muddles the clarity of what they are both trying to say.
- Ridley's erudition, for me, often muddles his message.
- The tale is muddled in its telling, with a clutter of secondary characters.
- The two teams certainly entered into the seasonal spirit, if a little confusion muddled the role-playing.
Synonyms jumbled, in a jumble, in a muddle, in a mess, chaotic, in disorder, in disarray, topsy-turvy, disorganized, disordered, disorderly, out of place, out of order, mixed up, upside-down, at sixes and sevens, untidy, messy, scrambled, tangled confuse, mix up, jumble, jumble up, disarrange, disorganize, disorder, disturb, throw into disorder, get into a tangle, scramble, mess up - 1.1 Confuse (a person or their thoughts)
使糊涂 Paul was hopelessly muddled by the rates of exchange Example sentencesExamples - Paul snapped to attention, Tessa muddling his thoughts.
- Although he is clear about the present nature of barbarism, he is rather muddled about his conception of socialism.
- She shook her head, the strange conversation muddling her thoughts.
- Liberals gravitate toward the gray to muddy the waters, to muddle people's thinking.
- I cursed my hormonal body for muddling up my thinking.
- His thoughts were muddled with emotions, and he wasn't sure of anything.
- Mechanics is mathematicians trying to be physicists, but not quite managing it and just muddling me.
- Many rabid political partisans are so thin-skinned that any unfavorable truth about their heroes muddles their thinking.
- My more muddled position is that bringing Paine's words and ideas into our world is like trying to plant cut flowers.
- The problem with this definition of expectations is that it muddles customers' judgments and their estimates of probability.
- I'm just following my somewhat muddled thoughts where they take me.
- I had taken in too many impressions; too many thoughts muddled my mind.
- Must have been the oncoming cold muddling my brain.
- All this action does is muddle the faithful and bring the faith into needless disrepute.
- You sensed it all along, but the knowledge was hopelessly muddled by the inherent drive to author new life.
- I was so muddled at the thought that he had almost kissed me that the words never registered.
- When I made my witness statement I was muddled in the accounts which I gave in paragraph 6 and paragraph 8.
- He was still muddled in his thoughts when the servants took away the last course - mostly untouched, as the silence and sobriety had damaged everyone's appetite.
- As an essayist, he's often contradictory and more than a bit muddled.
Synonyms confused, in a state of confusion, bewildered, bemused, perplexed, disorientated, disoriented, at sea, in a muddle, befuddled, dazed incoherent, confused, muddle-headed, woolly, jumbled, disjointed bewilder, confuse, bemuse, perplex, puzzle, baffle, nonplus, mystify, confound, disorientate, disorient, befuddle, daze, addle - 1.2no object, with adverbial Busy oneself in an aimless or ineffective way.
懵懵懂懂地白忙 he was muddling about in the kitchen 他正在厨房里瞎忙一气。 Example sentencesExamples - After muddling around for a few days, he comes out fully in favor of the government's position and vows to endorse whatever the government proposes in relation to boat people.
- For a number of years I've been muddling in the mire of trying to figure out who and what I am in relation to church, denomination, God etc.
- I'm just muddling around here like an ant in a potplant, not always realizing there are larger things out there than my little world.
- That would preclude idiots from muddling around in areas they have no knowledge of.
- In fact, the Penguins muddled to a sixth place finish in the regular season standings with a .500 record to become one of eight playoff qualifiers.
- Although a problem in computer ethics may seem clear initially, a little reflection reveals a conceptual muddle.
2Mix (a drink) or stir (an ingredient) into a drink. 〈美〉调制（饮料）；调（酒） muddle the kiwi slices with the sugar Example sentencesExamples - Using a citrus reamer, muddle the leaves until they are dark green and pasty; the total volume should reduce by about half, and they should have released quite a bit of liquid.
- Remember, showmanship behind the bar is a very important aspect of the job, and muddling provides bartenders a great chance to prove their worth.
- In a bar glass, muddle the kiwi slices with the sugar.
- Try the Opium Martini special: fresh root ginger muddled with homemade coriander syrup and shaken with a double shot of vodka.
- World class bar staff mix and muddle a variety of concoctions, from herb-infused cosmopolitans to fresh fruit Martinis.
- The Ginger and Pear Martini combines pear-infused gin with fresh ginger muddled with Frangelico and simple syrup.
- Soak with bitters and gently muddle with a spoon.
- The finest leaves get muddled for the drink; imperfect leaves go into a simple syrup.
- Place the mint, tangerine, lime juice and syrup in a shaker tin, muddle all ingredients together.
- Your barmen know how to muddle a mean Mojito, and house DJs pump out loud and happy vibes until late.
- In a shaker, muddle the ginger, add the others, plus ice.
- Requiring your bartenders to cut the lemons and muddle them in front of the customer each time a drink is ordered is too arduous.
- In a mixing glass, moderately muddle syrup, bitters, mint, orange and lime together.
- Instead of lime and sugar, we muddle oranges into the glass and use an orange syrup with the Bacardi.
nounˈmədlˈmədl 1usually in singular An untidy and disorganized state or collection. 杂乱无章的状态；乱七八糟的一堆（东西） the finances were in a muddle 财务管理杂乱无章。 a muddle of French, English, Ojibwa, and a dash of Gaelic Example sentencesExamples - Talking through teeth gritted against the gelid wind, we converse in a muddle of French, English and Arabic.
- If we attempt to separate these two according to outer procedures we shall end in a muddle.
- Willy-nilly and no doubt unwillingly, he is then drawn into the fight; in an instant the man in the middle has become the man in a muddle and nothing at all has been achieved.
- It is possible, as with most muddles in the world, that the answer lies in history.
- I've had flu since Friday, in a muddle of tissues and lying down, drowsily watching DVDs, and no appetite.
- What often becomes shockingly obvious is that the garden is in a muddle.
- Even if, like me, you think the polls are often in a muddle, they do tell a consistent story on economic management.
- But Mr Ekins said he thought the Government's transport policy was in a muddle.
- Buffy moved away from him, her thoughts all in a muddle.
- Henry got himself into a hopeless muddle about his sublet offices.
- Still, I certainly and completely understand why you're all in a muddle.
- He'd assembled a Catalogue of Printed Books at Middle Hill, but it seemed a hopeless muddle.
- After all, a similar impetus fuelled the expansion of the public libraries and made them what they were before they lost their way in a muddle of video tapes, CDs and computer programs.
- At times it thinks it's a caper movie/thriller and on other occasions it wants to be seen as a comedy, but since it never commits to either approach, it ends up in a muddle.
- Our patient is crowned king and expected to sort out this delightfully convoluted muddle.
- They'll quickly realise that their things can't be found in a muddle, or that clothes don't walk to the washing machine on their own.
- In other hands it would dissolve into a hopeless muddle of ideas.
- She dares us to dress down, to strip ourselves of our illusions and to acknowledge that, for most of the time, we live life in a muddle and ‘that every hour contains at least a moment of bewilderment or worse’.
- He says: ‘Ordinary events got Jennings in a muddle and we can identify with these.’
- But the situation is, frankly, in a muddle right now.
Synonyms untidiness, disorder, disarray, clutter, heap, shambles, litter, tangle, jumble, mishmash, chaos, confusion, disorganization, turmoil - 1.1 A mistake arising from or resulting in confusion.
混乱导致的错误；导致混乱的错误 官僚作风导致的混乱。 Example sentencesExamples - Npower has now sorted out the muddle, apologised to you and sent you a goodwill payment.
- Most of them were muddles, rather than deliberately murderous delinquencies.
- Small firms are choking to death in a planning process increasingly marked by bureaucratic muddle and delay.
- Where does this leave a poet who writes in his own muddles, creates his own errata?
- It was all well intentioned but that's the old muddle.
- Firstly, she sorted out a problem I referred to her about muddles with my mum's pension credit.
- Shaw, to give him his credit, is trying to sort the muddle out.
- The four great battles of Cassino brought to a head all the muddles and contradictions of the Italian campaign.
- True, there were muddles and ostrich-like behaviour.
- Fast-moving fun for younger viewers, centring on Lizzie Forbes, whose overworked imagination often embroils her in misunderstandings, muddles and miscellaneous mayhem.
- But the bureaucratic muddle began after ministers farmed the project out to the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities, the umbrella body for councils.
- She recently had a call from an ex-foster child who said, ‘I've rung to talk to you about my worries and muddles because I could always talk to you.’
- Despite the muddles of his campaign, his message won him nearly 49% of the votes.
- Here in India, especially in relatively small cities like Dehra Doon, it feels like half magic a lot of the time and the only way to live through the muddles is to be determined to find them funny.
- The mayor is willing to get right in the middle of a bureaucratic muddle - to wade right in and say no to people.
- Somehow, expenses muddles are tolerated in the Commons, where it is considered rather indecent to question what members do with their cash.
- Apart from my methodological muddles, what should we make of the oscillations in fossil diversity?
- The whole affair was, he insisted, a "muddle rather than a fiddle".
Synonyms bungle, mix-up, misunderstanding, mistake
Phrasal VerbsCope more or less satisfactorily despite lack of expertise, planning, or equipment. 差强人意地应付，设法应付 we don't have an ultimate ambition; we just muddle through Example sentencesExamples - However, I have enough faith in the inherent common sense of the human race to believe that we will, as ever, just manage to muddle through.
- I noticed this morning that London Bridge station, after years of muddling through without a logo, has gained one.
- Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast guidelines for us to follow - we just have to muddle through, minds fogged by desire.
- Those of us who'd been happily muddling along for years and years were faced with a ‘for us or against us’ ultimatum from the more political of our younger brothers and sisters.
- Under the present law there are several options, the least effective of which is to do nothing and hope those affected can muddle through.
- All too often, gifted children have to muddle through.
- Both have their own special charm, but whereas Paris is all about order, London is all about muddling through.
- ‘They are experts, but we just muddle along,’ said Mr Cross.
- Restructuring will be disruptive for the top management of the industry, but it cannot afford to muddle along any longer.
- Yet somehow I have managed to muddle through and have not done too badly out of life.
- When I left my husband I knew it would be tough and I told myself we'd have to muddle through.
- There was I, muddling blithely along, thinking that give and take would get me and my Other Half through those rare, but bracing episodes of discord Americans refer to as ‘learning experiences’.
- All this makes for some short-term optimism, and even a feeling that we may somehow muddle through - but the longer-term odds are a different matter.
- But generally - and I say this knowing full well that I am tempting every fate known to man - we have managed to muddle along quite well.
- It was not a particularly happy union, though they muddled along in the end.
- Y'know you're just muddling along in a better-than-average indie band and suddenly you're proclaimed the saviours of rock-and-roll.
- We can be Asian Welsh, Afro-Caribbean Scottish, Pakistani English, and all somehow muddle through together.
- My brain is frantically muddling through, trying to make sense of what's happening to me.
- So there you are, muddling along with your new bog-standard toaster, when you get a surprise gift of a top-of-the-range model.
- ‘We just manage to muddle through but it's a bit of a strain over seven weeks,’ says Kenny Kingshott.
Synonyms cope, manage, get along, get by, scrape along, scrape by, make do, make the best of a bad job
Confuse two or more things with each other. 混淆 at the time, archaeology was commonly muddled up with paleontology Example sentencesExamples - That's another kettle of fish entirely and I despair of physicians and others who confuse and muddle invalidity and melancholy as being one and the same thing.
- Members of the community with intellectual disabilities will be thrilled about this bill, because they have always felt they are muddled up with people with mental ill-health.
- Meanwhile, an amusing apology from the Star Tribune for muddling up ‘profligate’ and ‘prolific’.
- And so, because I didn't want to go through the rest of my life eating the wrong food and muddling homeopaths up with homosexuals, I selected the weakest lenses and set about choosing some frames.
- Sadly, that doesn't stop the objectors muddling fact and fiction, as if their main source were Frankenstein, which was a novel written in the 19th century, of all the far away places.
- This tension in the bill comes from it muddling the issue of compensating prisoners for unlawful treatment by the crown with compensating their victims for pain and suffering.
- "She has a sharp mind but can sometimes get her priorities muddled up.
- I think a lot of people muddle celebrities up with soaps.
- No one could possibly object, for example, if marks were deducted for failing to remember the poem, or for muddling up the verses, or for serious errors of pronunciation.
- Thus, the matter is muddled up as a manager-employee conflict instead of a pure freedom of expression issue.
- He'll muddle it up; which is the illusion and which is real life?
- Mr Smith was dyslexic as a youngster and he used to muddle words up; he may have misunderstood matters.
OriginLate Middle English (in the sense ‘wallow in mud’): perhaps from Middle Dutch moddelen, frequentative of modden ‘dabble in mud’; compare with mud. The sense ‘confuse’ was initially associated with alcoholic drink (late 17th century), giving rise to ‘busy oneself in a confused way’ and ‘jumble up’ (mid 19th century). |