quagmire
Americannoun
-
an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog.
-
a situation from which extrication is very difficult.
a quagmire of financial indebtedness.
- Synonyms:
- jam, scrape, quandary, dilemma, predicament
-
anything soft or flabby.
noun
-
a soft wet area of land that gives way under the feet; bog
-
an awkward, complex, or embarrassing situation
Other Word Forms
- quagmiry adjective
Etymology
Origin of quagmire
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.
With a paucity of working capital and bank lending rates now exceeding 60%, both foreign and domestic firms are stuck in a quagmire.
From Barron's
Any such ambition raises the potential for quick actions to become quagmires.
From Los Angeles Times
USC has found itself in a financial quagmire at an unsettled moment.
From Los Angeles Times
Meanwhile, the war in Iraq came to seem closer to a quagmire than he had predicted.
“I can’t get them to initiate the money. It’s just a quagmire.”
From Salon
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.
