muck

/mʌk/ informal

Say it: MUK

1. noun Dirt, mud, or filth, especially when wet, sticky, and unpleasant.
He scraped the muck off his boots before coming inside.
2. noun Manure or other waste from farm animals.
The farmer spread muck on the fields as fertilizer.
3. verb To remove dirt or manure from a place, often used with 'out'.
It was his turn to muck out the stables.
4. verb To make something messy or dirty, or to ruin something, often used with 'up'.
Be careful not to muck up the clean floor with your muddy shoes.
🇪🇸 estropear

📖 Seen in the wild

I know perfectly well that I will in no way “muck things up” for the doctors by not taking their treatment; I know better than anyone that by all this I am harming only myself and no one else.
collected by @missha

✏️ muck in a sentence

After the music festival, the field was a sea of muck and litter.
The investigative journalist had to sift through the muck of political corruption.
Don't touch that, it's covered in some kind of greasy muck.
I completely mucked up the final exam question.
Heavy rains turned the campsite into a quagmire of muck.
Clearing the muck from the clogged drain was a disgusting job.
In British English, to 'make a muck of something' means to spoil it completely.

🔁 Synonyms & antonyms

dirt mud filth grime gunk slime sludge mire

dirt · a general term, whereas muck is specifically wet and unpleasant

mud · typically just wet soil, while muck can contain other foul matter

filth · a stronger term for disgusting dirt; muck is a type of filth

grime · usually refers to dirt ingrained on a surface, not a wet mass

Opposites: cleanliness, purity, clarity, spotlessness

🌱 Where it comes from

The word 'muck' trod its way into English around the 13th century from Old Norse 'myki', meaning 'dung' or 'manure'. This origin is still clear in one of its main senses related to farmyard waste. Over time, its meaning broadened from just manure to any kind of wet, sticky, and unpleasant filth.

🧩 How it's used

Common patterns:

muck out the stablescovered in muckmuck and mireclear out the muckmuck up the works

Muck is an informal and evocative word with a strong negative connotation. It suggests something is not just dirty but unpleasantly so, often being wet, sticky, or foul. Pay attention to common phrasal verbs: 'to muck out' means to clean a dirty place like a stable, while 'to muck up' means to ruin or bungle something. The British idiom 'to make a muck of' carries the same meaning as 'to muck up'.

Word family: mucky

💬 Quick answers

What does muck mean?

Muck is an informal word for dirt, mud, or filth, especially when it's wet, sticky, and unpleasant. It can also refer specifically to animal manure or the act of cleaning it away.

What is the difference between muck and mud?

While both refer to wet earth, muck often implies a more disgusting mixture that can include decaying matter, slime, or manure. Mud is typically just wet soil.

Is muck a formal word?

No, muck is an informal word. In formal writing, you would be more likely to use words like 'dirt', 'filth', or 'sediment' depending on the context.

What does it mean to 'muck up'?

To 'muck up' or 'muck something up' is an informal phrasal verb meaning to spoil, ruin, or handle something badly. For example, 'I mucked up the recipe by adding too much salt.'

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