muddle through en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /ˈmʌd(ə)l θɹu/ (General-American)
- /ˈmʌdl̩ θɹuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From muddle (“to think and act in a confused, aimless way”) + through.
Meanings
-
(ambitransitive) To succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained.
Well one is a little anxious, one is always wary of the unknown, but I have faith somehow I'll muddle through.
1984 December 17, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Party Games (Yes Minister)”, in Yes Minister, spoken by Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne):If Labour's senior team thinks that it can just muddle through to the next election without a coherent plan about how to tackle the problems of the industry, it is making a big mistake.
2023 March 8, Christian Wolmar, “Labour passes up the chance to deliver a forceful rail policy”, in RAIL, number 978, page 34:Someday soon we all will be together / If the fates allow. / Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow. / So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
1943 (date written), “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, in Ralph Blane (lyrics), Hugh Martin (music), Meet Me in St. Louis (soundtrack; 1944), performed by Judy Garland:I’ve only had a few lessons, but I can muddle through the test.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| muddles through | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| muddling through | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| muddled through | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| muddled through | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
get along · make do · scrape by · get by · scrape along · muddle along
Translations (7)
cmn 應付過去 /应付过去 (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · de sich durchwursteln (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · cmn 勉強勝任 /勉强胜任 (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · mnw နကဵုထုဲထံၚ် (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · fi pärjätä jotenkin (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · fi rämpiä läpi (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained) · fi selvitä jotenkin (to succeed (often clumsily) despite being ill-equipped or inadequately trained)