Turbid

//ˈtɜː(ɹ)bɪd// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having the lees or sediment disturbed; not clear. (of a liquid)

    "turbid water"

  2. 2
    Smoky or misty.

    "Towards the last I increased the heat, and by that means produced a very turbid air, of which I collected a prodigious quantity."

  3. 3
    Unclear; confused; obscure.

    "Motion, to take a good example, is originally a turbid sensation, of which the native shape is perhaps best preserved in the phenomenon of vertigo."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (of liquids) clouded as with sediment wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
opaquecloudyabstruseadiaphanousambiguousamiss

Example

More examples

"I may not therefore, dear reader, tell you whether this pleasant abode be washed by the waves of the Atlantic or by the turbid current of the Mississippi; whether it be fanned by the flower-laden zephyrs of the South, or by the health-inspiring breezes of the North."

Etymology

From Middle English turbide, borrowed from Latin turbidus (“disturbed”), from turba (“mass, throng, crowd, tumult, disturbance”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.