swamp
- noun
- /swɑmp/
- Informal
- Many who enter this swamp seem never to emerge from the other side.
Slogging through the swamp of, of unclear boundaries.
- Slogging through the swamp of, of unclear boundaries.
- Isn't like, like trying to fish for fish for approval in the vast swamp of the Twitterverse, right?
- It's a herculean mental effort to recognize red flags and not get pulled into the specialness swamp.
- The shame swamp that narcissistic people live in means that it almost feels like they get off.
- And now I feel like it's just a swamp.
Examples
-
Ah, we're waiting on the next bus out of the swamp.
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I liked it better when it was a swamp and there was just the two of us.
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So I met him in that swamp and just started like a journey with him.
-
It's nothing but a swamp, you know.
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We ain't even out the swamp yet.
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We're still in the goddamn swamp, and now we're being hit by a monsoon.
Fiction book (1998) -
Students are thrown into the licensure swamp to figure it out on their own.
Blog text (23) -
You're in the middle of a swamp, 1000 miles from no place.
-
But yesterday and today, I seem to be emerging from this swamp of miseries.
Academic text (2016) -
Feeling lost in the complexities of my job, I realized I was trapped in a swamp of endless paperwork.
Synonyms
A difficult situation that is hard to escape or solve
A confusing situation full of problems that is hard to get out of
Deep soft wet ground like a bog that is hard to walk through
A confused situation full of rumours and wrong information
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
An infection people get from animals that causes fever and yellow skin
A large tree with a thick trunk that grows near rivers and lakes in central Mexico
Wood from large trees that grow near rivers in Mexico used for furniture and boats
- Australian
A medium-sized eucalyptus tree that grows in swampy mountain areas in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia
A large swamp in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida that is home to many wild animals
- US
A tree from the southern United States with light wood used for furniture and guitars
- US
A bush that loses its leaves and grows in eastern United States swamps with small pink or white flowers
- US
A birch tree from the western United States with brownish bark that grows in wetlands
A low spiny bush that grows in wet ground and has small black berries you can eat
A tall bush that grows in wet ground and makes dark blue berries you can eat in eastern North America
- Specialized
A medium to large tree with big leaves that grows in wet areas of the southeastern United States
- Specialized
A tree that has cones and a swollen base that grows in southern US swamps
- US
A large vehicle with big wheels and a raised body that goes across wet, muddy land
- Specialized
Wood from trees with swollen bases that grow in southern US swamps and that people use to make furniture
- Specialized
A bristly trailing plant with small black berries like a blackberry that grows in wet places
A tree from the eastern United States with 7 or 9 leaflets and thin, very bitter nuts
- Australian
A medium-sized tree from southern Australia that grows in damp or swampy places
- US
A tree that grows in wet places like rivers and marshes with large rounded leaves and brown bark
- US
A large rabbit that lives in marshes and swims well in the southeastern United States
- US
A tree growing where the ground is often wet with five-lobed leaves that turn red or yellow in autumn
- Australian
A small leafless Australian shrub with small yellow flowers that grows in wet places
- US
A large North American tree that grows in wet soil and is used for its wood or colorful leaves
A yellow wildflower with narrow leaves that grows in wet places like bogs and marshes
A large tree that grows in wet soil and has strong wood and leaves with shallow lobes
How Difficult
Surface Forms
Etymology
Swamp used for a difficult situation comes from the same image of wet land that is hard to leave. Because real swamps slow you down and hold you fast, being in a 'swamp' means you are in a messy, hard-to-escape problem.