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
Etymology
Origin of quagmire
Explanation
A quagmire is a dangerous place, like the muddy shoreline of a pond. Because it's so hard to climb out of a quagmire, the word has also come to mean any difficult or sticky situation you find yourself in. Long ago, quag was a synonym for "bog" or "marsh," a swampy area where water seems to sit instead of drain out. Mire is another word to describe such a place. As a verb mire means "stuck," like someone who's mired in quicksand or mired in work — both prevent you from going anywhere. In a quagmire, you get stuck physically — or, even more commonly, in a situation that is hard to escape because there is no easy solution.
Vocabulary lists containing quagmire
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Hamilton
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40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
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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.
But Americans who think the process abroad will always meet the standards they are accustomed to can find themselves unexpectedly engulfed in a quagmire of complications.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
Proposals, multiple points long, are being mooted by mediators racing to find a way out of this deepening quagmire.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
For all his backroom skill, Tojo did not include the U.S., or a quagmire in China, in his calculations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
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 • Jan. 29, 2026
Anyway, probably no one is thinking about an appropriately weighty yet catchy phrase to call our quagmire right now.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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.
