addle

He expected the chemical would addle mitochondria in every organ.

From Science Magazine ● May 4, 2023

Her putter works just fine from medium to long range; it’s the tiddlers that get her nerves jangling and addle the head.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2019

The company will also remove nests, transport injured birds to rehabilitation centers and addle the eggs.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2018

The company will also remove nests, transport injured birds to rehabilitation centers and addle eggs.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2018

“You’ll addle your brains if you don’t watch out.”

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Los Angeles and Tucson, Ariz. Despite many close friendships, especially with women, he was at heart a loner, conditioned, possibly, by clinical depression, for which he sought electroshock therapy even though it addled his brain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

For 18 years, Clayton Kershaw pitched through the gamut of emotions as both a hero and a villain, moments of euphoria addled with spells of despair, picturesque summers disappearing into the wicked wilds of October.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

No mastermind, Musk is more Scaramucci 2.0—an addled and overcaffeinated whirlwind that we all hoped would be one more chapter to which we could say: “Whoa, that was wild. Next.”

From Slate ● Feb. 7, 2025

But, like every addled maniac, his hatred lacks focus.

From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025

But the boy was full of mixed hate and pity now, and it addled him.

From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong

He said social media could create "greater connections and a sense of belonging" but also came with risks including the "harm of addling the developing mind of young people".

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

It is the play itself that lurches and rocks us, addling our expectation of narrative coherence in order to take us inside the sort of experience that can’t be grasped with the mind alone.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 30, 2019

I can't decide if it is amusing, ironic or horrifying to note that Universities, institutions allegedly dedicated to expanding and improving the mind, principally responsible for addling the brains of their matriculants.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2018

The blaze has been propelled by a heatwave addling much of the nation, in addition to the naturally dry and windy conditions of Southern California's Santa Clarita Valley, the area affected by the fire.

From US News ● Jul. 25, 2016

Bless 'em, they'll have enough to do to get their bread with sweating and toiling, without addling their brains about things they can't understand.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 328, February, 1843 by Various