quagmire

noun

quag·​mire ˈkwag-ˌmī(-ə)r  ˈkwäg- 

plural quagmires

1

: soft miry land that shakes or yields under the foot

2

: a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position : predicament

Synonyms

• bind
• box
• catch-22
• corner
• dilemma
• fix
• hole
• impasse
• jackpot [chiefly West]
• jam
• mire
• pickle
• predicament
• rabbit hole
• rattrap
• spot
• sticky wicket
• swamp

Examples of quagmire in a Sentence

That was six months ago, when the Defense secretary laughingly dismissed the idea that Iraq was, or could turn into, a quagmire. But as Rumsfeld sat down last Friday morning to face Sen. John McCain, who spent six years in a Vietnamese prison, no one was laughing. —Michael Hirsh et al., Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2003

State involvement will create a vast bioethical quagmire. Even if everyone magically agrees that improving a child's memory is as valid as avoiding dyslexia, there will still be things taxpayers aren't ready to pay for—genes of unproven benefit, say, or alterations whose downsides may exceed the upside. —Robert Wright, Time, 11 Jan.1999

the party was once again facing its quadrennial quagmire: the candidate sufficiently liberal to win the nomination would be too liberal for the general election

a protracted custody dispute that became a judicial quagmire

Recent Examples on the Web

Simply put, Democrats can escape their electoral quagmire by recognizing what successful liberal politicians understood until quite recently—that there's nothing compassionate or progressive about letting corporations exploit cheap foreign labor to undermine American workers. —Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025

However, this path has led many young adults into a financial quagmire. —Jack Kelly, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025

The result has been a quagmire and a continuation of government ownership for much longer than originally intended. —Felix Salmon, Axios, 6 Jan. 2025

By then, this game was simply a quagmire to be navigated. —George Caulkin, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

quagmire

noun

quag·​mire ˈkwag-ˌmī(ə)r  ˈkwäg- 

1

: soft spongy wet ground that shakes or gives way under the foot

2

: a difficult situation from which it is hard to escape