1For a liquid or gas to lose its clarity and become muddy, cloudy, or turbid, typically due to mud or impurities mixing in.
台風のあとで、池の水がすっかり濁ってしまった。
After the typhoon, the pond water became completely murky.
空気が濁っていて、遠くの山がよく見えない。
The air is hazy, and I can't see the distant mountains clearly.
魚を入れる前に、水槽の水が濁っていないか確認した。
Before putting in the fish, I checked whether the tank water was cloudy.
古い油は使ううちに濁ってくる。
Old cooking oil becomes cloudy as you use it.
2For a sound, color, or outline to lose clarity, becoming muffled or blurred; also used for a voice becoming hoarse.
風邪をひいて声が濁っている。
My voice is hoarse because I have a cold.
古いスピーカーだと音が濁って聞こえる。
With an old speaker, the sound comes out muffled.
霧のせいで街灯の光が濁って見えた。
Because of the fog, the streetlight looked hazy.
3For a person's heart or a society to lose its purity, becoming morally tainted or corrupt.
金にまつわる不正で組織全体が濁ってしまった。
Financial corruption has tainted the entire organization.
彼は都会の生活で心が濁ったと感じている。
He feels that city life has corrupted his heart.
4In phonetics, for an unvoiced consonant sound to become voiced - e.g., か becoming が.
「はこ」に濁点がつくと、まったく違う音になる。
If dakuten is added to はこ, it turns into a completely different, voiced sound.
複合語では後ろの音が濁ることがあり、これを連濁と呼ぶ。
In compound words, the latter sound sometimes becomes voiced; this is called rendaku.