Murky means dark and dirty, or hard to see the truth of. Murky water, a murky past, murky dealings.
Of water it means clouded with sediment so that nothing can be seen through it. Figuratively it means obscure in a way that suggests something is being hidden: murky finances, a murky business — and that suggestion is the whole force of the word. Note murk, the noun; and that murky is related to Old Norse myrkr, dark.
1adjectivedarkDark and dirty.
“We couldn't see the bottom of the murky pond.”
2adjectivemurkyHard to see the truth of.
“The minister was forced to resign over his murky business dealings.”
murky is a quality of obscurity.
Middle English mirky is related to Old Norse myrkr, dark. The Slavic mrak, darkness, comes from the same Indo-European root.
Middle English
mirky
English, today
murky
From Middle English mirky. Related to Old Norse myrkr, Russian мрак and its Slavic cognates. by surface analysis, murk + -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire