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
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Recent Examples of quagmire
Hamas provoked the Israelis into a quagmire in Gaza by brutally raping and murdering young concertgoers and kidnapping families from their kibbutzes.
—
Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 June 2025
This contradicts the precedent set by prior direct payments, such as the Covid-19 stimulus checks, which were heavily weighted toward lower-income Americans and could create a political quagmire for Trump.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
The main conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo, has struggled to win over moderate, swing voters as his People Power Party remains in a quagmire of internal feuding over how to view Yoon's actions.
—Arkansas Online, 3 June 2025
The Squadron 42 quagmire The initial concept behind Squadron 42 was a tutorial segment that would gently introduce players to the game's mechanics and feed them some in-game rewards upon completion.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 June 2025
This contradicts the precedent set by prior direct payments, such as the Covid-19 stimulus checks, which were heavily weighted toward lower-income Americans and could create a political quagmire for Trump.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
The main conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo, has struggled to win over moderate, swing voters as his People Power Party remains in a quagmire of internal feuding over how to view Yoon's actions.
—Arkansas Online, 3 June 2025
The Squadron 42 quagmire The initial concept behind Squadron 42 was a tutorial segment that would gently introduce players to the game's mechanics and feed them some in-game rewards upon completion.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quagmire
Noun
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Christopher Boyle of New York County Defender Services and one of Bernier’s lawyers said anecdotally there are many others on Rikers Island in a similar predicament.—
Graham Rayman,
New York Daily News,
29 June 2025
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Rodriguez discussed Rose's predicament in an interview on New York City's WFAN radio last week, and made a startling claim about baseball's all-time hits leader.—
Jon Vankin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 June 2025
Noun
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In my experience, most sea salt sprays require some sort of trade-off: either tons of volume but tangles, or great wave definition but very little body.—
Ariel Wodarcyk,
Glamour,
26 June 2025
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One of the most aggressive garden invaders, bindweed rapidly rambles through perennials and shrubs, creating a leafy tangle of stems and foliage.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 June 2025
Noun
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The feed surfaces chats containing legal dilemmas, therapy discussions, and deeply personal confessions, often linked to real accounts.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
1 July 2025
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The dilemma GenAI faces is similar to past hyped technology cycles like IoT or blockchain.—
Leonard Lee,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Wyoming’s wildlife agency, for example, traps and relocates conflict bears (or kills problem bears if allowed by the Fish and Wildlife Service), knocks on doors to calm nervous landowners, hands out bear spray, and reminds campers not to cook chili in their tents.—
Christine Peterson,
Vox,
27 June 2025
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Wolves are killed across the Northern Rockies using steel-jawed traps, neck snares, packs of dogs and even snowmobiles.—
Jim Martin,
Denver Post,
27 June 2025
Noun
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Stir together mayonnaise, pickle juice, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.—
Elizabeth Nelson,
Southern Living,
30 June 2025
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Served with baby potatoes, bread, and mixed pickles, a fondue is the perfect way to warm up after a day on the slopes or hiking through the valley.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
22 June 2025
Noun
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There are no pairs of tidily poetic contradictions, but a morass of inner conflict, uncertainty, pain, and relief.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
27 June 2025
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Tax administration is often written off as a bureaucratic morass—a neutral, technocratic function made necessary by the modern state but best kept as small as possible.—
Andrew Leahey,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
Noun
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That was soon followed by airborne training and then Ranger school, a notoriously grueling nine-week program that includes three weeks each at Fort Benning, in the mountains of Georgia, and in the swamps of Florida.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 July 2025
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Supporters cheered a Republican president who promised to finally drain the swamp.—
Bennet Goldstein,
jsonline.com,
4 July 2025
Noun
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These moves chip away at the 188,000 pages bloating the Code of Federal Regulations, freeing businesses and families from bureaucratic quicksand.—
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
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But the question of who’s going to kill or get killed ultimately proves less important than how their pasts have shaped these men — or rather trapped them, like quicksand.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
20 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quagmire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quagmire. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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