A Word A Day : Turbid
Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 : Today's Word is ...
Turbid
( Adjective )
Pronunciation : túr-bid
Definition:
1. having sediment or foreign particles stirred up or suspended
2. confused and muddled
3. dense and cloudy or dark
4. deficient in clarity or purity
NOTE:
turbid or
turgid
The two words are unrelated in form but can both describe water in their literal meanings (either
opaque and muddy in the case of turbid or
swollen and overflowing in the case of turgid) and can both describe literary styles in their figurative meanings. Turgid is the more common and means
pompous and overcomplicated (as in turgid prose), whereas turbid means
confused and muddled (as in turbid reasoning).
Etymology:
Latin turbidus, disordered, from turba, turmoil, probably from Greek turbē
Synonyms:
cloudy, muddy, murky, roiled, roily, addled, addlepated, confounded, confused, confusional, muddle-headed, perplexed, hazy, smoggy
Antonyms:
clear, understandable
Contextual Examples:
• Clear writers, like fountains, do not seem so deep as they are. The
turbid look the most profound.
• I leave a white and
turbid wake, pale waters, paler cheeks, where'er I sail.
• Carey stood for a few minutes and looked at it, it was
turbid and yellow.
Related Words:
•
turbidity : Noun
•
turbidness : Noun
•
turbidly : Adverb
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