murky
Hard to see
Murky describes water or air that is dark and cloudy, difficult to see through: murky pond water, the murky depths.
By extension, murky applies to anything obscure or hard to understand: murky legal language, a murky past.
The word often implies something suspicious or concealed: murky dealings, murky motives.
Clouded by particles
- cloudyObscured by atmosphere
- muddyObscured by silt
- siltyContaining fine earth deposits
- brackishMildly salty water
stagnant · swampy · boggy · marshy · sludgy · sediment · mire · quagmire
Dark and dispiriting
- shadowyObscured by darkness
- darkAbsence of light
- duskyPartially shadowed, darkish
- twilitDim with evening's glow
tenebrous · crepuscular · foggy · hazy · misty · smoky · obscured · shrouded
Unclear, ill-defined
- ambiguousHaving multiple interpretations
- obscureUnknown to most
- nebulousUnclear and formless
- confusingCausing mental uncertainty
cryptic · enigmatic · unintelligible · indistinct · fuzzy · blurred · muddled · convoluted
Disreputable or sun-blocked
- dubiousOf uncertain reliability
- questionableOf uncertain validity
- fishyArousing doubt, colloquially
- underhandedSecretly dishonest or unfair
nefarious · corrupt · crooked · scheming · secretive · furtive · dodgy · disreputable
Suggesting something bad approaches
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
- darkAbsence of light
grim · baleful · portentous · dire · haunting · brooding · unsettling · eerie
turbid
Clouded by particles
brackish · stagnant · swampy · boggy · marshy · sludgy · sediment · mire · quagmire · polluted
gloomy
Dark and dispiriting
twilit · tenebrous · crepuscular · foggy · hazy · misty · smoky · obscured · shrouded · veiled
vague
Unclear, ill-defined
confusing · cryptic · enigmatic · unintelligible · indistinct · fuzzy · blurred · muddled · convoluted · opaque
shady
Disreputable or sun-blocked
- dubiousOf uncertain reliability
- questionableOf uncertain validity
- fishyArousing doubt, colloquially
underhanded · nefarious · corrupt · crooked · scheming · secretive · furtive · dodgy · disreputable · unscrupulous
ominous
Suggesting something bad approaches
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
dark · grim · baleful · portentous · dire · haunting · brooding · unsettling · eerie · chilling
- water qualitiestaste, odor, color, fresh, salty
- ambiguityambiguity, ambivalence, double meaning, vagueness, equivocation
- adjectivesbig, urgent, amazing, temporary, bold
- visionsharp, eye, visual perception, sight, eyes
- nighttimemidnight, nightfall, night sky, nighttime, starry sky
- Darknessblackness, pitch black, pitch-black, inkiness, gloom
murkyclear
Without obstruction or fog
crystal clear · transparent · pellucid · limpid · crystalline
- murky watersUnclear, sediment-filled liquid