1 addled | Definition of addled

addled

adjective

Definition of addled

1 : thrown into confusion : confused his addled brain/mind … vainly endeavouring to master some task … which, to the addled brain of the crushed boy of nineteen, was a sealed and hopeless mystery.— Charles Dickens
2 of an egg : rotten, addle She was romantic, she was sentimental, she had a passion for little secrets and mysteries—a very innocent passion, for her secrets had hitherto always been as unpractical as addled eggs.— Henry James

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for addled

Synonyms

bad, corrupted, decayed, decomposed, putrefied, putrid, rotten, spoiled

Antonyms

undecomposed

Visit the Thesaurus for More 

Examples of addled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Forcing factions to compete for power and influence in a way that frustrates the fickle and addled will of We the People was baked into the American constitutional cake from the beginning, for good reason. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "L’Esprit de l’Escalier, the ‘Times,’ Etc.," 27 Aug. 2019 The kids, for all their F-bombs and addled hormones, are actually all right — Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams), and Thor (Brady Noon), best friends united by the prepubescent bedlam of sixth grade. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, "Tween comedy Good Boys delivers crass silliness — and some hard-R charm," 19 Aug. 2019 In April, Wilde was the only board member to vote against dissolving the district after voters rejected a four-year, $11.5 million operational referendum that district officials said was needed to keep the debt-addled district functioning. Bob Dohr, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The only school board member who opposed dissolving the Palmyra-Eagle district has resigned," 13 Aug. 2019 Lang, who through representatives declined to comment for this article, apparently envisioned the revival as a cross-generational jubilee: screen-addled millennials and nostalgia-prone Baby Boomers united in song. Daniel Arkin, NBC News, "Woodstock 50: How the golden anniversary festival went off track," 20 July 2019 When the patient is a pain addled 95-year-old person, open heart surgery may not be the best idea . Mike Oliver | [email protected], al, "My Vinyl Countdown preparing or the last post -- I need another 30 months," 10 Aug. 2019 Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward, who is a doctor, tweeted what verged on a medical assessment that Mueller was an addled puppet of his investigators. Ronald J. Hansen, azcentral, "Arizona Republican faults Mueller for Trump-Russia probe costs, casts report as waste," 24 July 2019 Unfortunately, the genial, addled paraplegic doesn’t have the same kind of business acumen as the no-nonsense owner of the nearby rendering plant where deceased pets, livestock, and roadkill all end up in vats to be boiled down into tallow. Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, "Doc Talk: More moon, more Morris, more music," 18 July 2019 It’s hard to tear your eyes away even when the show gets dark because, beyond her drug-addled dysfunction, Rue is deeply human and relatable. Hannah Hickok, Teen Vogue, "Why Our Generation Is Hooked on "Failure TV"," 11 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'addled.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of addled

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for addled

variant of addle entry 1, with the adjective suffix -ed entry 1

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more