morass
Americannoun
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a tract of low, soft, wet ground.
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a marsh or bog.
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marshy ground.
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any confusing or troublesome situation, especially one from which it is difficult to free oneself; entanglement.
noun
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a tract of swampy low-lying land
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a disordered or muddled situation or circumstance, esp one that impedes progress
Etymology
Origin of morass
1645–55; < Dutch moeras, alteration (by association with moer marsh; cf. moor 1) of Middle Dutch maras < Old French mareis < Germanic. See marsh
Explanation
A morass is a mushy, muddy patch of ground that you might find in a bog. In other words, it's something you probably don't want to get stuck in. The noun morass comes from the Dutch word moeras, meaning "marsh" or "fen." More metaphorically, just like its synonyms mire and quagmire, morass refers to anything that bogs you down, overwhelms you, and hinders your progress — like red tape, for example. You might refer to a "political morass" when the government cannot seem to pass legislation. Whether a morass is physical or metaphorical, it's a sticky mess you'll most likely want to avoid.
Vocabulary lists containing morass
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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A Wrinkle in Time
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I watched the pitch become a sodden pulp, a Morass, a sponge, a lake, a running stream, What time a sad repentant Mea culpa Was all my musing's theme.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, August 11, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
She feared that the fortune which, like a will-o’-the-wisp, had danced before their eyes for so many months, was now about to disappear in a Morass of Despair.
From Nan Sherwood at Lakeview Hall Or the Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse by Carr, Annie Roe
It was cut in half by the Great Morass, stretches of which extended even to Furnes.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various
Into your Soul may truculent Daemons pass All hugger-mugger in that dun Morass, But while the Rouge is mantling to your Cheek, Nothing will chide you in your Looking-Glass.
From The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Jr. by Irwin, Wallace
Has he a turn for fossils? that is, is he capable of sinking up to his Middle in a Morass?
From Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends by Keats, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
