NDA (II) 2021 General Ability Test · Question 13 of 149

Correct — D, 'To make the situation complicated.' To 'muddy the waters' is to make a matter more confusing or harder to understand — clouding what was previously clear.

• (a)To spread dirt around — A literal reading of 'muddy'; the idiom is figurative, about confusing a matter, not about actual dirt.
• (b)To make a situation easy — The opposite — muddying the waters makes things harder, not easier.
• (c)To make one's life happy — Unrelated — the phrase is about confusing an issue, not about happiness.

'Muddy the waters' means to make a situation or issue more confusing and less clear, often by introducing complicating details.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the meaning of the idiom 'muddy the waters'.

  • (a)to make a matter clearer
  • (b)to make a matter more confusing
  • (c)to clean a pond
  • (d)to settle a dispute

  Answer(b) to make a matter more confusing — muddying the waters clouds a previously clear issue.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the meaning of the idiom 'cloud the issue'.

  • (a)to clarify a matter
  • (b)to make a matter less clear
  • (c)to end an argument
  • (d)to raise a storm

  Answer(b) to make a matter less clear — like 'muddy the waters', it means to confuse the issue.