miry

American  

[mahyuhr-ee] / ˈmaɪər i /

adjective

mirier, miriest

1. of the nature of mire; swampy.

   miry ground.

2. abounding in mire; muddy.

3. covered or bespattered with mire.

---

Other Word Forms

• miriness
  noun
• unmiry
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of miry

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at mire, -y ¹

---

Explanation

Anything soggy, soft, and a little muddy is miry. Your bright white sneakers won't look brand new anymore after you hike along the miry riverbank in them. The adjective miry, which is good for describing places that are boggy or mucky, comes from mire, "a stretch of swampy ground." Mire derives from the Old Norse word myrr, "bog or swamp," and shares a root (meaning "damp") with the word moss. Miry things are damp and squishy, like the ground around a marsh or the muddy surface of a dirt road after heavy rain.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

miry

According to the historian Edward Hasted, writing in the 1770s, Cooling was “an unfrequented place, the roads of which are deep and miry, and it is as unhealthy as it is unpleasant.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 6, 2018

Without access to the inter-stage area, which turns the miry walk between the two main stages into a comparatively short hop, the following would not be possible.

From Time ● Jul. 7, 2014

“God grant that I may be drawing near some inhabited place,” said I.  The path now grew very miry, and there were pools of water on either side. 

From Wild Wales The People, Laguage & Scenery by George Henry Borrow

There's a deep wide ditch, marshy in places, wet and miry everywhere for a mile either way, and the banks are steep.

From From School to Battle-field A Story of the War Days by Charles King

He had to step aside as he spoke to let a manure cart go by, labouring along the miry way.

From Mitchelhurst Place, Vol. I (of 2) A Novel by Margaret Veley

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---