1
: wet spongy earth (as of a bog or marsh)
the mire is relieved only by small stretches of open dry forest—
Saturday Review
Saturday Review2
: heavy often deep mud or slush
The troops trudged onward through the mire.
3
: a troublesome or intractable situation
found themselves in a mire of debt
mired; miring
1
a
: to cause to stick fast in or as if in mire
The car was mired in the muck.
b
: to hamper or hold back as if by mire : entangle
The company has been mired in legal problems.
2
: to cover or soil with mire
his mired boots
: to stick or sink in mire
a road in which horses and wagons mired regularly—Edmund Arnold
Edmund Arnold
Synonyms
Examples of mire in a Sentence
Noun
The troops marched onward through the muck and the mire.
played on a football field that was thick with mire
Verb
the sight of the standard, which had emerged from the battle mangled and mired, still stirred the soldiers' hearts
the case has been mired in probate court for years
Recent Examples on the WebJournal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
Emily Goodstein, a small-business owner in D.C., similarly views the bed, in particular, as a pristine place that should remain separate from the mire of the outside world.
—Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2024
Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto Apparently the swamp in Washington, D.C., is not a political but a bureaucratic mire.
—Mark P. Mills, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2023
That suited corporate arts funders, who didn’t have to worry about stepping into a political mire.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
Some were tasked with pulling electrical cords out of the mire while others attempted to tidy up the bedlam.
—Morena Duwe, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2023
Bloom’s methodical, risk-averse approach to roster-building as chief baseball officer represented a potential impediment to the Red Sox emerging from the mire of mediocrity.
—Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Sep. 2023
Most people who have been in the mire of heartbreak will have felt pain in their body somewhere.
—Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 13 July 2023
Crumbled pistachios climb over the mire like neon green moss, making a bed for fuzzy sprouts of spearmint and peppermint, and ripe blueberries as fat and glossy as sapphires.
—Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 26 June 2023
Elise Cutts, WIRED, 7 Apr. 2024
The inquiry has shaken an administration that has become increasingly mired in investigations and beset by legal and ethical problems.
—Dana Rubinstein, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, following talks here with senior officials from more than 40 partner nations, described the conflict’s dramatic global stakes as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-year-old invasion remains mired in a costly stalemate.
—Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024
It was seen as a key opening shot in a battle that her eventual Republican rival, then-Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., could not match because she was still mired in a three-way GOP primary.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
Once mired in instability, the city has reinvented itself with a burgeoning tech scene that attracts digital nomads from all over the world, as well as public infrastructure, education, and transportation advancements with a focus on sustainability.
—Hannah Towey, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Mar. 2024
Japan’s economy is mired in a years-long malaise and the yen has been weak.
—Maria Aspan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
Trump, who is running for president in 2024 and is now the presumptive GOP nominee, is mired in legal issues in the lead-up to the election.
—Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024
California lawmakers are speedily moving forward toward approving a bill that would extend a key college financial aid deadline by a month to help students whose applications have been mired in problems at the federal level.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
Noun
Infusion of local and federal dollars into transit and housing
At the start of 2023, the county faced looming fiscal cliffs, with some departments, including transit, already sinking into a financial mire.
—Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
Emily Goodstein, a small-business owner in D.C., similarly views the bed, in particular, as a pristine place that should remain separate from the mire of the outside world.
—Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2024
Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto Apparently the swamp in Washington, D.C., is not a political but a bureaucratic mire.
—Mark P. Mills, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2023
That suited corporate arts funders, who didn’t have to worry about stepping into a political mire.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
Some were tasked with pulling electrical cords out of the mire while others attempted to tidy up the bedlam.
—Morena Duwe, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2023
Bloom’s methodical, risk-averse approach to roster-building as chief baseball officer represented a potential impediment to the Red Sox emerging from the mire of mediocrity.
—Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Sep. 2023
Most people who have been in the mire of heartbreak will have felt pain in their body somewhere.
—Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 13 July 2023
Crumbled pistachios climb over the mire like neon green moss, making a bed for fuzzy sprouts of spearmint and peppermint, and ripe blueberries as fat and glossy as sapphires.
—Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 26 June 2023
Verb
The planet was Venus, and the claim about a potential biosignature in the Venusian sky is still mired in controversy, even years later.
—Elise Cutts, WIRED, 7 Apr. 2024
The inquiry has shaken an administration that has become increasingly mired in investigations and beset by legal and ethical problems.
—Dana Rubinstein, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, following talks here with senior officials from more than 40 partner nations, described the conflict’s dramatic global stakes as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-year-old invasion remains mired in a costly stalemate.
—Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024
It was seen as a key opening shot in a battle that her eventual Republican rival, then-Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., could not match because she was still mired in a three-way GOP primary.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
Once mired in instability, the city has reinvented itself with a burgeoning tech scene that attracts digital nomads from all over the world, as well as public infrastructure, education, and transportation advancements with a focus on sustainability.
—Hannah Towey, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Mar. 2024
Japan’s economy is mired in a years-long malaise and the yen has been weak.
—Maria Aspan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
Trump, who is running for president in 2024 and is now the presumptive GOP nominee, is mired in legal issues in the lead-up to the election.
—Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024
California lawmakers are speedily moving forward toward approving a bill that would extend a key college financial aid deadline by a month to help students whose applications have been mired in problems at the federal level.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English, from Old Norse mȳrr; akin to Old English mōs marsh — more at moss
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of mire was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing mire
Articles Related to mire
Dictionary Entries Near mire
Cite this Entry
“Mire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mire. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
mire
2 of 2 verb
mired; miring
1
a
: to sink or stick fast in mire
b
2
: to soil with mud or slush
Medical Definition
mire
noun
: any of the objects on the arm of an ophthalmometer that are used to measure astigmatism by the reflections they produce in the cornea when illuminated
More from Merriam-Webster on mire
Nglish: Translation of mire for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of mire for Arabic Speakers
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