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Glite Dictionary
to wallow in the mire

to wallow in the mire

1 9.9
To stay sad and think about problems instead of trying to fix them
  • idiom
translation icon : revolcarse en la miseria
  • Instead of finding solutions, they chose to wallow in the mire of their problems, complaining instead of taking action.

Examples

  • No time to wallow in the mire.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • After losing the game, he decided not to wallow in the mire of disappointment but to focus on improving for next time.

  • She realized that if she continued to wallow in the mire of her past mistakes, she would never move forward.

Synonyms

to drown
vsto wallow in the mire
135 3.5

Be unable to cope with a large amount of something, for example work

is about remaining absorbed rather than being unable to cope from overload
to wallow
vsto wallow in the mire
42 5.8

To spend time enjoying a feeling or situation without trying to change it

is about staying absorbed in a difficult or unhappy situation instead of improving it
to languish
vsto wallow in the mire
32 7.2

To become weak and lose energy because of neglect or sadness

is about remaining absorbed in an unhappy situation rather than simply weakening
to wallow in
vsto wallow in the mire
28 7.4

To spend a lot of time feeling sorry for yourself and not trying to change

focuses on remaining stuck in a difficult situation rather than improving it
to sink into quicksand
vsto wallow in the mire
  • Informal
8.2

To get stuck in a problem that keeps getting worse and is hard to leave

describes staying absorbed in hardship instead of trying to escape

Antonyms

to improve
∞ 1.0

To make something better

escape
320 1.1

An act of getting away from a place where you are kept or are in danger

How Absorbed

to wallow in the mire
1 9.9
to dwell on
53 5.2

Surface Forms

wallow in the mire infinitive
wallowed in the mire past
wallowed in the mire past participle
wallowing in the mire present participle
wallows in the mire third person singular

Morphology

wallow + in + the + mire

The phrase combines 'wallow' (to indulge or linger in an emotion/state) with the locative 'in' and 'mire' (a quagmire or troublesome predicament), so its meaning of remaining absorbed in a difficult or unhappy situation is directly derivable from the parts. The mud/quagmire metaphor for trouble is common cross-linguistically and follows normal English compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

The phrase wallow in the mire comes from the picture of an animal, often a pig, that wallows in deep mud called a mire. This picture of staying happily stuck in mud helps explain why the phrase means 'to stay stuck in a bad or unhappy situation'.