1
as in predicament
a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of quagmire
And Russia’s continuing quagmire in Ukraine discredits any Russian claim to superpower status.
—
Armstrong Williams, Orange County Register, 13 Jan. 2025
For three decades, websites large and small have depended on search to help build their readership; now they’re caught in a philosophical quagmire.
—Longreads, 19 Dec. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Armstrong Williams, Orange County Register, 13 Jan. 2025
For three decades, websites large and small have depended on search to help build their readership; now they’re caught in a philosophical quagmire.
—Longreads, 19 Dec. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quagmire
Noun
-
Now, there are clearly two ways out of this predicament for Leeds United.—
Jordan Campbell,
The Athletic,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Is there a way out of our divided country’s seemingly hopeless predicament?—
Jackie Strause,
The Hollywood Reporter,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Why isn’t there space for an organic unfurling, a messy tangle of threads that overlap and deviate?—
Rebekah Taussig,
TIME,
24 Feb. 2025
-
Figuring out why tangles are so tricky could help scientists predict when people’s snap judgments about a physical situation are likely to be wrong, leading to unsafe reactions.—
Clara Moskowitz,
Scientific American,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Ben Colman, co-founder and CEO of Reality Defender, a company specializing in deepfake detection, weighed in on the designer's dilemma.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
-
The political dilemma facing Trump and the Republicans is one that an earlier generation of conservative revolutionaries faced forty-odd years ago.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Later, the ladies end up falling into the trap of talking about politics at dinner (been there!).—
Dan Heching,
CNN,
3 Mar. 2025
-
The pandemic and years of economic mismanagement by former military strongman Desi Bouterse had placed Suriname in a debt trap.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
New foods include chicken bacon ranch waffle stick, pickle juice lemonade, flaming hot chili mac dog and more.—
Shafaq Patel,
Axios,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Fact checked by Sarah Scott Think a hankering for pickle juice is just a weird pregnancy quirk?—
Hannah Silverman,
Parents,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Shapiro, who launched crisis PR firm 10th Avenue Consulting in 2015 after his lengthy tenure in the federal government, would seem an unconventional choice for Lively given that the spiraling legal morass has no obvious political ties.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
28 Feb. 2025
-
However, starting a process early in President Trump's second term could prove helpful given the resulting legal morass, depending on the mechanism that the EPA employs to repeal it.—
Andrew Freedman,
Axios,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The fish thrive in rivers, creeks, ponds, and swamps with slow or still waters and are often found on vegetation, logs, and dead branches.—
Raven Brunner,
People.com,
24 Feb. 2025
-
The swamp is not being drained; it’s being filled with more water than the Panama Canal.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Relying solely on perks in such an environment is like building a castle on quicksand.—
Ankita Singh,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
-
Escaping career quicksand requires you to create your own playbook based on what matters to you.—
Glenn Llopis,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
Articles Related to quagmire
Cite this Entry
“Quagmire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quagmire. Accessed 8 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share