Meaning & use
muggy
Last updated
UK/ˈmʌɡ.i/
US/ˈmʌɡ.i/
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Unpleasantly warm and humid, with air that feels heavy, damp, and hard to breathe.
Grammar: Use very or absolutely before it; compare with muggier and muggiest when needed.
Patterns
- muggy weather
- muggy air
- a muggy day
- feel muggy
The evening was so muggy that the windows fogged from the inside.
I slept badly because the room felt hot and muggy.
Word forms
| comparative | muggier |
|---|---|
| superlative | muggiest |
Common combinations
- muggy weather
- Muggy weather often arrives before a thunderstorm.
- hot and muggy
- The tent became hot and muggy after noon.
- a muggy night
- Nobody slept well during that muggy night.
- feel muggy
- The hallway felt muggy even with the fan on.
Synonyms and how they differ
- humid
- Humid only says there is moisture in the air; muggy adds that the heat and damp feel uncomfortable.
- sultry
- Sultry is more literary and can suggest heavy heat, while muggy is the everyday word for sticky discomfort.
- sticky
- Sticky is informal and describes the clammy feeling on skin; muggy describes the air itself.
Opposites
Word family
- mugginess noun
- The uncomfortable quality of muggy air.
Commonly confused: muggy or humid?
muggy vs humid
Humid air contains moisture but may still feel pleasant; muggy weather feels oppressive.
Practice
After the rain, the evening felt heavy and ___, so we stayed indoors.
Choose one answer.
Muggy means warm, damp, uncomfortable air. Arid, crisp, and frosty all suggest dry or cold conditions, so they contradict the context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “muggy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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