mired
Americanadjective
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trapped in mud, muck, or slime.
The concern now was how to free their mired fire engine and water tanker.
-
entangled or stuck.
Bond yields have been climbing, but they still remain mired at historically low levels.
-
soiled with mud, muck, or slime.
He looked down at his mired kaftan, speckled with dirt, and tried to brush it clean.
-
involved or entrapped in trouble or difficulty.
Only some of our colleagues have offended, it is true; but all of us are mired.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mired
Explanation
When you're mired in something, you're stuck or entangled in it. You can't get out. Sometimes, being mired means to be literally trapped in the mire, which is like a swamp or muck. But usually when people are mired, it's in something less icky but equally hard to get out of. You could be mired in six hours of homework. Congress could be mired in discussions that are going nowhere. A bad relationship could be mired in arguments. When you're mired, it feels like you're sinking in quicksand.
Vocabulary lists containing mired
Grendel
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Much Ado About Nothing
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The Road
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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.
The country is also mired in multiple security crises -- from jihadists, non-ideological "bandit" gangs, farmers and herders fighting over land, and a simmering separatist conflict.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Indeed, it is almost revolutionary to see emotionally resonant teenage characters who aren’t mired in abuse, addiction or some kind of horror; leveraging dysfunction has become shorthand for “drama.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Casting Luddites as anti-technology has mired a historical labor uprising as a destructive tantrum thrown by fearful, hidebound cranks.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
The housing market has been mired in a yearslong slump, with the rise in mortgage rates in 2022 putting an end to a pandemic-era buying spree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Unlike the Europeans, still mired in theory and speculation, Van Wagenen’s talk was all Yankee practicality.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
