murk
Haze obscuring vision
Murk is darkness or gloom, especially when thick or obscuring: We peered into the murk of the basement.
The word suggests dimness you can almost feel—fog, smoke, deep water.
As an adjective (murky), it describes unclear conditions, literal or figurative: murky waters, murky motives.
The noun is literary; the adjective is common.
Clouded by particles
- muddyObscured by silt
- cloudyObscured by atmosphere
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
- siltWaterborne earth particles
brackish · opaque · swamp · bog · stagnant · depths · underwater · visibility
Murky atmospheric suspension
- mistFine airborne moisture
- smogSunlight-activated urban pollution
- vaporGaseous form of liquid
- overcastSky fully veiled
brume · soupy · foggy · misty · drizzle · cloudy · damp · condensation
Light blocked by object
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- dimnessInsufficient illumination
- blacknessComplete absence of light
- obscurityState of being unknown
twilight · dusk · nightfall · pitch-black · moonless · lightless · shroud · penumbra
Unclear, ill-defined
- obscureUnknown to most
- ambiguousHaving multiple interpretations
- nebulousUnclear and formless
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
hazy · opaque · fuzzy · blurred · uncertain · muddled · confused · imprecise
turbid
Clouded by particles
silt · brackish · opaque · swamp · bog · stagnant · depths · underwater · visibility · polluted
haze
Murky atmospheric suspension
overcast · brume · soupy · foggy · misty · drizzle · cloudy · damp · condensation · visibility
shadow
Light blocked by object
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- dimnessInsufficient illumination
- blacknessComplete absence of light
obscurity · twilight · dusk · nightfall · pitch-black · moonless · lightless · shroud · penumbra · tenebrous
vague
Unclear, ill-defined
indistinct · hazy · opaque · fuzzy · blurred · uncertain · muddled · confused · imprecise · shadowy
foreboding
Fearful anticipation of harm
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
eerie · grim · dreadful · lurking · unsettling · creepy · spooky · haunting · baleful · macabre
- darkening wordsdim, fade, shadow, shade, blacken
- Darknessblackness, pitch black, pitch-black, inkiness, gloom
- fogfog, mist, haze, thick fog, dense fog
- hazinesshaze, haziness, fuzziness, blur, mistiness
- shades and shadows in literaturechiaroscuro, shadow, darkness, silhouette, gloom
- deep seaabyss, seabed, ocean floor, ocean depths, seafloor
murklight
Visible electromagnetic radiation
brightness · radiance · brilliance · daylight · glow
murkclarity
State of being understandable
clearness · transparency · limpidity · lucidity · pellucidity
- murky watersUnclear, sediment-filled liquid