muddle through
Barely get by
To muddle through is to manage or cope despite confusion, lack of preparation, or inadequate resources.
The phrase suggests getting by without elegance or efficiency—bumbling toward an acceptable outcome rather than executing a plan: We didn't know what we were doing, but we muddled through.
Common in British English.
- make doManage with insufficient resources
- scrape bySurvive with minimal resources
- manageDirect or handle successfully
- scrape togetherAssemble with effort
- cobble togetherAssemble hastily from whatever's available
get along · get by · cope · hold it together · jury-rig · survive · struggle · persevere · trial and error · wing it · hang on · limp along · make it · flounder · ad-lib · deal · roll with it · fumble
- frugalityfrugality, thrift, frugal, penny-pinching, economize
- improvisationimprovised, impromptu, ad lib, freestyle, ad-lib
- survivalsurvival, survive, endure, persist, last
- learning processbeginner stage, trial and error, learn by doing, orientation, onboarding
- makeshift fixesquick fix, stopgap, duct tape, band-aid, bandaid