roily
Murky from disturbance
Roily describes water or liquid that is muddy, turbid, or stirred up with sediment.
A roily stream has been disturbed so that dirt or particles cloud what might otherwise be clear water.
The word extends to figurative contexts describing unsettled or agitated conditions: The roily political atmosphere made predictions impossible.
Roily is less common than its near-synonym roiled, but both derive from the verb roil, meaning to stir up or disturb.
Dark and unclear
- muddyObscured by silt
- cloudedMade unclear or dim
- siltyContaining fine earth deposits
- opaqueImpassable to light
sediment · silt · murkiness · turbidity · suspended · particles · grit · muck
Experiencing distress or anxiety
- unsettledNot yet resolved
- turbulentViolently agitated or disturbed
- chaoticTotally without arrangement
- disturbedEmotionally or mentally unsettled
agitated · tumultuous · stormy · volatile · unstable · disordered · disquieted · perturbed
murky
Dark and unclear
opaque · sediment · silt · murkiness · turbidity · suspended · particles · grit · muck · sludge
troubled
Experiencing distress or anxiety
disturbed · agitated · tumultuous · stormy · volatile · unstable · disordered · disquieted · perturbed · ruffled
churning
Agitated circular motion
disturbed · unsettled · stormy · tempestuous · seething · boiling · frothing · whirling · eddying · heaving
roilyclear
Without obstruction or fog
crystalline · transparent · limpid · pellucid · crystal-clear