糊 has three readings. Second-tone hú is the main one: blurry / muddled / to paste / burnt, as in 糊涂, 糊口. First-tone hū means to smear or daub a layer on, and appears in dazed reduplications like 迷迷糊糊. Fourth-tone hù is 'paste / cream', as in 糊弄.
usage
In 模糊, 含糊, 迷糊 the 糊 is unstressed and toneless, derived from the hú reading. Treat these as the hú family even though the syllable goes neutral.
Rice on the left is literal: paste was traditionally made by cooking grain into a thick, sticky mass. The radical also lends the muddled sense, since 糊涂 (confused) is the mind being as gummed-up as a pot of rice paste. It groups 糊 with 粥 and 粘.
Provides the sound hú unchanged. It heads a phonetic series including 湖, 蝴, 葫. The reckless / disorderly sense of 胡 happens to align with the muddled meaning of 糊涂, a happy accident that aids memorisation.
