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
With a day to digest the defeat, the Spurs’ message at Thursday’s media session was that their play in Game 1 was out of character, especially in a 40-point quagmire of a second half.
—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Neither resulted in lasting security improvements and instead left indelible, traumatic scars on Israel’s collective consciousness, creating the image of Lebanon as a quagmire into which Israel has been repeatedly drawn.
—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
1 June 2026
International sporting competitions such as the International Olympic Committee, meanwhile, have condemned the concept as a moral and ethical quagmire.
—
Elizabeth Robinson,
NBC news,
28 May 2026
The quagmire in Ukraine and persistent inflation have weighed on sentiment.
—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Neither resulted in lasting security improvements and instead left indelible, traumatic scars on Israel’s collective consciousness, creating the image of Lebanon as a quagmire into which Israel has been repeatedly drawn.
—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
1 June 2026
International sporting competitions such as the International Olympic Committee, meanwhile, have condemned the concept as a moral and ethical quagmire.
—
Elizabeth Robinson,
NBC news,
28 May 2026
The quagmire in Ukraine and persistent inflation have weighed on sentiment.
—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quagmire
Noun
-
The upshot of Yale’s report, which is by far the most self-critical of the three, is that administrators bear much of the responsibility for higher education’s current predicament.
-
What to read next Once the initial excitement of weightlessness has worn off, the kids realize the true extent of their predicament.
Noun
-
For instance, pet parents keep an eye out for Amazon vacuums that come with tangle-free brushes to trap loose fur without clogging the motorhead.
-
This Levoit vacuum just dropped under $200, and its impressive ability to pick up hair without any tangles is a pet owner’s dream.
Noun
-
Perhaps every story in which the characters are fundamentally unable to change their lives is subject to this same dilemma.
-
Casa Amor, as a concept, is traditionally structured like a prisoner’s dilemma, with neither the main villa nor Casa Islanders aware of what their counterparts are doing while they’re separated.
Noun
-
Commercial shipping companies are also caught in a trap.
-
Losing his back left leg in a steel trap during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Noun
-
Your leaf feeding, and eventually fruit feeding, pests are almost certain to be pickle or melon worms.
-
Both point out that pickle juice is high in sodium; infrequently or in small doses, that’s fine, but if consumed excessively, pickle juice can pretty quickly put you beyond the daily amount of sodium health experts recommend that people consume.
Noun
-
The massive language model is a morass of words connecting to other words.
-
These elements and more could help move the needle on the nation’s housing morass.
Noun
-
Air quality officials also recommend using an air purifier if available and avoiding the use of whole-house fans or swamp coolers that can draw outdoor air inside.
-
For millions of years between 350 and 280 million years ago (about 30 million years before the first dinosaurs), these croc-like animals ruled the rivers, swamps, and lakes of the ancient world.
Noun
-
There are reasons the 2026 Giants aren’t trapped in the same quicksand as the Mets, Phillies or Red Sox, and those reasons are encouraging.
-
Such fluidity also extends to Amrum itself, where the land and water ebb and flow into one another, forming mudflats and murky patches of quicksand.
Cite this Entry
“Quagmire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quagmire. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
