Skip to main content
quagmire

quagmire

25 7.9
A difficult situation that is hard to escape or solve
  • noun
  • /ˈkwæɡˌmaɪər/
translation icon : atolladero
  • Thus, there is little movement towards improving the situation and no ready way out of the quagmire.
  • ideological quagmire
  • escape from a quagmire
  • moral quagmire

The living room is a quagmire of pieces of crap.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • He does not want this to become a political quagmire.

  • The commission dissolved into a political quagmire of corruption and even offers of vote selling.

    Blog text (29)
  • The alternative looks like a way to have the United States escape from a quagmire, whatever the consequences.

    Academic text (2006)
  • We need our best soldiers to help us get through the quagmire those idiots have created.

    Blog text (28)
  • I am afraid you have been drawn into a quagmire similar to Iraq.

    Blog text (7)
  • We are entrenched in a terrible quagmire... of negative publicity... and political infighting.

  • I don't advocate for war, only a responsible end to the quagmires we're in now.

    Blog text (33)
  • Even governments of different ideological bents, military or civilian, have fallen into the same quagmire.

    Academic text (1990)
  • While failing to deter genocide, it may produce a quagmire hauntingly similar to Vietnam.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The negotiations have turned into a quagmire, with no clear path to resolution.

Synonyms

problem
vsquagmire
1.2

A situation that causes trouble and needs a solution

is broader and implies messy escape difficulty beyond a solvable issue
trouble
vsquagmire
1.0

A situation with fighting or strong arguments that disturbs people

is more complex and messier, involving entrapment rather than simple problems
mess
vsquagmire
1.0

A situation in which things are untidy and confused

is more about complex, hard to escape entanglement rather than simple untidiness
predicament
vsquagmire
81 5.8

A difficult or embarrassing situation that is hard to escape

is more about complicated messiness rather than only being unpleasant
bind
vsquagmire
  • Informal
68 6.5

A difficult situation that is hard to get out of

is messier and more tangled rather than only tight difficulty
conundrum
vsquagmire
45 8.5

A confusing problem or question that is hard to solve

is broader, involving messy entanglement and escape difficulty beyond a puzzle
quandary
vsquagmire
25 8.2

A situation when you do not know what to do

is more about being stuck in messy complications rather than just indecision
Catch-22
vsquagmire
  • Informal
18 9.6

A situation where you cannot win because rules block every choice

is more general messy difficulty rather than a rule based unsolvable dilemma
snafu
vsquagmire
  • Slang
15 8.8

A confused, messy situation that causes trouble

is more enduring and messy rather than a resulting chaotic error
in a jam
vsquagmire
  • Informal
14 6.7

In trouble and needing help to fix a problem

is more about messy, entangled circumstances rather than just temporary trouble
tangle
vsquagmire
13 5.5

A confused situation that is hard to understand or solve

is broader, adding messy, ongoing difficulty beyond mere entanglement
swamp
vsquagmire
  • Informal
13 7.0

A difficult, confusing situation that is hard to get out of

is focused on tangled messy complications rather than only overwhelming scale
morass
vsquagmire
10 9.3

A confusing situation full of problems that is hard to get out of

is more about a messy, complicated state rather than only confusion
muddle
vsquagmire
9 5.0

A confused, disorganized situation where things are not in order

is more severe, involving entrapment and harder escape than disorganization
mire
vsquagmire
5 8.1

A difficult situation that is hard to escape

is messier and suggests being bogged down rather than merely difficult
tricky situation
vsquagmire
4 3.7

A difficult situation that is hard to deal with

is more about being deeply stuck and hard to escape rather than awkwardness
snarl
vsquagmire
3 7.7

A confused, complicated situation that is hard to understand

is more about being boggy and messy rather than only tangled confusion
imbroglio
vsquagmire
3 9.8

A very confusing and embarrassing situation involving conflict or misunderstanding

is more about general messy complexity rather than specific embarrassment or conflict
one hell of a mess
vsquagmire
  • NSFW
2 8.4

A very large, messy situation that is hard to fix

is similar but usually implies entanglement and hard escape rather than size
sticky mess
vsquagmire
  • Informal
1 5.5

A difficult, unpleasant situation that is hard to fix

is broader, covering complicated escape and messy complexity rather than only unpleasantness
ciénaga
vsquagmire
  • Literature
9.9

A difficult, confusing situation that is full of dishonest people and hard to escape

is more about messy, general complication rather than corrupt emphasis
everglade
vsquagmire
  • Literature
9.6

A confusing, tangled situation that is hard to get out of

is more a messy, complicated situation rather than a figurative image
muddlement
vsquagmire
7.9

A state of confusion where things are unclear or messy

is more about being trapped in complexity rather than mere unclear disorder
pasticcio
vsquagmire
  • Informal
9.9

A confused mixture of things that makes a mess

is more about being trapped and hard to escape rather than result of bungling
thorny challenge
vsquagmire
7.4

A difficult problem that needs careful handling

is more tangled and hard to exit rather than only requiring careful effort
knotty issue
vsquagmire
6.8

A difficult problem that is hard to solve

is more about being stuck in messy complexity rather than a solvable issue
knotty situation
vsquagmire
7.7

A difficult problem with no easy solution

is more about messy entrapment and escape difficulty than formal complexity

Antonyms

2.1

An answer to a problem or a way to deal with a difficult situation

152 3.0

How easy it is to understand what someone says or writes

Compounds

political quagmire
  • Literature
1 8.1

A difficult political situation where people cannot agree or act

How Difficult

catastrophe
176 7.0
crisis
3.1
quagmire
25 7.9
predicament
81 5.8
problem
1.2
difficulty
651 2.4
situation
1.9

Surface Forms

quagmire singular
quagmires plural

Morphology

quagmire = quag + mire (semi-transparent) = quag + mire

The figurative sense ('difficult situation') extends naturally from the literal bog meaning, but it is a metaphorical shift rather than a direct compositional derivation.

Etymology

Quagmire comes from the old words quag 'bog' and mire 'mud', and that image helps the meaning. Because a real quagmire can trap you, the word is used for a difficult or messy situation that is hard to escape.