A quagmire is a difficult, complicated, or unpleasant situation which is not easy to avoid or escape from.
His people had fallen further and further into a quagmire of confusion. [+ of]
We have no intention of being drawn into a political quagmire.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
A quagmire is a soft, wet area of land which your feet sink into if you try to walk across it.
Rain had turned the grass into a quagmire.
Synonyms: bog, marsh, swamp, slough More Synonyms of quagmire
More Synonyms of quagmire
quagmire in British English
(ˈkwæɡˌmaɪə, ˈkwɒɡ-)
noun
1.
a soft wet area of land that gives way under the feet; bog
2.
an awkward, complex, or embarrassing situation
Word origin
C16: from quag + mire
quagmire in American English
(ˈkwægˌmaɪr; ˈkwɑgˌmaɪr)
noun
1.
wet, boggy ground, yielding under the foot
2.
a difficult or inextricable position
a quagmire of debts
Word origin
quag + mire
Examples of 'quagmire' in a sentence
quagmire
But that would lead to a quagmire of legal wrangling.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Or if we had this plan over here then that would address this economic quagmire that we found ourselves in.
Christianity Today (2000)
It is a certain bureaucratic quagmire.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It is a political and legal quagmire, so nobody will go near it.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Was it not better to quash all emotions entirely, the better to avoid the quagmire of feelings?
John Cornwell Seminary Boy (2006)
Each standalone part of the trilogy tells the story of a Stuart king and the political quagmire surrounding them.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But there are a string of easy measures which those of us who are in the red can still take to escape the debt quagmire.
The Sun (2007)
Spain was plunged deeper into the economic quagmire yesterday after its central bank predicted that growth would grind to a halt in the third quarter.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Meanwhile British politics remained fiercely partisan, with the country mired in an economic quagmire.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
If the council rejects the deal, it will catapult Brussels into a legal quagmire.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
One reason that Britain is in such an economic quagmire is because of decades of unbalanced growth, fuelled by consumption and debt rather than savings and investment.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
quagmire
British English: quagmire NOUN
A quagmire is a difficult, complicated, or unpleasant situation which is not easy to avoid or escape from.
His people had fallen further and further into a quagmire of confusion.
American English: quagmire
Brazilian Portuguese: lamaçal
Chinese: 难以脱身的困境
European Spanish: atascadero
French: bourbier
German: Sumpf
Italian: pantano
Japanese: 窮地
Korean: 수렁
European Portuguese: lamaçal
Latin American Spanish: atascadero
1 (noun)
a political quagmire
Synonyms
predicament
The decision will leave her in a predicament.
difficulty
The main difficulty has been getting enough students to try out the scheme.
quandary
The anonymous letter creates a quandary for the judge.
pass
Things have come to a pretty pass when people are afraid to go out after dark.
fix (informal)
The government has got itself in a fix.
jam (informal)
It could get the government out of a jam.
dilemma
The issue raises a moral dilemma.
pinch
I'd trust her in a pinch.
plight
the plight of Third World countries plagued by debts
scrape (informal)
We got into terrible scrapes.
muddle
My thoughts are all in a muddle.
pickle (informal)
Connie had got herself into a real pickle this time.
impasse
entanglement
trying to do his job without the usual bureaucratic entanglements
imbroglio
What investor would willingly become involved in this imbroglio?
2 (noun)
Definition
a soft wet area of land that gives way under the feet
Overnight rain had turned the grass airstrip into a quagmire.
Synonyms
bog
We walked steadily across moor and bog.
marsh
a recently reclaimed saltwater marsh
swamp
Much of the land is desert or swamp.
slough
fen
Peat is growing in the fen.
mire
Be careful not to get stuck in the mire.
morass
a morass of gooey mud
quicksand
muskeg (Canadian)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of difficulty
Definition
an objection or obstacle
The main difficulty has been getting enough students to try out the scheme.
Synonyms
problem,
trouble,
obstacle,
hurdle,
dilemma,
hazard,
complication,
hassle (informal),
snag,
uphill (South Africa),
predicament,
pitfall,
stumbling block,
impediment,
hindrance,
tribulation,
quandary,
can of worms (informal),
point at issue,
disputed point
in the sense of dilemma
Definition
a situation offering a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives
The issue raises a moral dilemma.
Synonyms
predicament,
problem,
difficulty,
spot (informal),
fix (informal),
mess,
puzzle,
jam (informal),
embarrassment,
plight,
strait,
pickle (informal),
how-do-you-do (informal),
quandary,
perplexity,
tight corner or spot
in the sense of entanglement
trying to do his job without the usual bureaucratic entanglements
Synonyms
difficulty,
mess,
confusion,
complication,
mix-up,
muddle,
predicament,
imbroglio
Nearby words of
quagmire
quadrangle
quaff
quaggy
quagmire
quail
quaint
quake
Synonyms of 'quagmire'
quagmire
Explore 'quagmire' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fen
Definition
low-lying flat marshy land
Peat is growing in the fen.
Synonyms
marsh,
moss (Scottish),
swamp,
bog,
slough,
quagmire,
holm (dialect),
morass,
pakihi (New Zealand),
muskeg (Canadian)
in the sense of fix
Definition
a difficult situation
The government has got itself in a fix.
Synonyms
mess,
spot (informal),
corner,
hole (slang),
difficulty,
jam (informal),
dilemma,
embarrassment,
plight,
hot water (informal),
pickle (informal),
uphill (South Africa),
predicament,
difficult situation,
quandary,
tight spot,
ticklish situation
in the sense of imbroglio
Definition
a confusing and complicated situation
What investor would willingly become involved in this imbroglio?
Synonyms
complication,
involvement,
complexity,
embarrassment,
misunderstanding,
quandary,
entanglement
in the sense of jam
Definition
a difficult situation
It could get the government out of a jam.
Synonyms
predicament,
tight spot,
scrape (informal),
corner,
state,
situation,
trouble,
spot (informal),
hole (slang),
fix (informal),
bind,
emergency,
mess,
dilemma,
pinch,
plight,
strait,
hot water,
pickle (informal),
deep water,
quandary
in the sense of marsh
Definition
low poorly drained land that is wet, muddy, and sometimes flooded
a recently reclaimed saltwater marsh
Synonyms
swamp,
moss (Scottish, NorthernEngland, dialect),
bog,
slough,
fen,
quagmire,
morass,
muskeg (Canadian)
in the sense of mire
Definition
a boggy or marshy area
Be careful not to get stuck in the mire.
Synonyms
swamp,
marsh,
bog,
fen,
quagmire,
morass,
wetland,
pakihi (New Zealand),
muskeg (Canadian)
in the sense of morass
Definition
a tract of swampy low-lying land
a morass of gooey mud
Synonyms
marsh,
swamp,
bog,
slough,
fen,
moss (Scottish, NorthernEngland, dialect),
quagmire,
marshland,
muskeg (Canadian)
in the sense of muddle
Definition
a state of mental confusion or uncertainty
My thoughts are all in a muddle.
Synonyms
confusion,
mess,
disorder,
chaos,
plight,
tangle,
mix-up,
clutter,
disarray,
daze,
predicament,
jumble,
ravel,
perplexity,
disorganization,
hotchpotch,
hodgepodge,
pig's breakfast (informal),
fankle (Scottish)
in the sense of muskeg
Definition
an area of undrained boggy land
Synonyms
swamp,
bog,
marsh,
quagmire,
moss (Scottish, NorthernEngland, dialect),
slough,
fen,
mire,
morass,
everglade(s) (US),
pakihi (New Zealand)
in the sense of pass
Things have come to a pretty pass when people are afraid to go out after dark.
Synonyms
predicament,
condition,
situation,
state,
stage,
pinch,
plight,
straits,
state of affairs,
juncture
Additional synonyms
in the sense of pickle
Definition
an awkward or difficult situation
Connie had got herself into a real pickle this time.
Synonyms
predicament,
spot (informal),
fix (informal),
difficulty,
bind (informal),
jam (informal),
dilemma,
scrape (informal),
hot water (informal),
uphill (South Africa),
quandary,
tight spot
in the sense of pinch
Definition
extreme stress or need
I'd trust her in a pinch.
Synonyms
emergency,
crisis,
difficulty,
plight,
scrape (informal),
strait,
uphill (South Africa),
predicament,
extremity,
necessity,
hardship,
oppression,
exigency
in the sense of plight
Definition
a dangerous or difficult situation
the plight of Third World countries plagued by debts
Synonyms
difficulty,
condition,
state,
situation,
trouble,
circumstances,
dilemma,
straits,
predicament,
extremity,
perplexity
in the sense of quandary
Definition
a situation in which it is difficult to decide what to do
The anonymous letter creates a quandary for the judge.