“Turbid” is based on the Latin “turba,” meaning “a crowd” or “a disturbance.” “Turbid” can describe something either literally or figuratively cloudy and obscure. Water that is turbid — such as river water during a season of thaw — is full of swirling silt and other particulates that make it cloudy and hard to see through. In the same way, a turbid announcement from a public official could be hard to make sense of.