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
The agreement is a welcome reprieve for the Trump administration, whose war against the Houthis was threatening to become something of a quagmire.
—
Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 6 May 2025
Against this corporate financial quagmire, Wintour hasn’t made a complete mess of Vogue from a purely performance metric.
—Lilian Raji, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Ultimately, there may be no way for Israel to escape its smart-bomb delusion—or another quagmire in the Middle East.
—Robert A. Pape, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2025
New manager Arne Slot navigated those waters, a personnel mess with Mohamed Salah’s contract quagmire and a brutal EPL schedule to clinch first with four games left.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 6 May 2025
Against this corporate financial quagmire, Wintour hasn’t made a complete mess of Vogue from a purely performance metric.
—Lilian Raji, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Ultimately, there may be no way for Israel to escape its smart-bomb delusion—or another quagmire in the Middle East.
—Robert A. Pape, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2025
New manager Arne Slot navigated those waters, a personnel mess with Mohamed Salah’s contract quagmire and a brutal EPL schedule to clinch first with four games left.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quagmire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quagmire
Noun
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This predicament, occurring just five months after the airline's emergence from bankruptcy, initiated a rally predominantly led by United Airlines stock (NASDAQ: UAL), which saw a 10% increase.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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Witnesses recalled the woman’s behavior at the time of her predicament.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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At the river’s edge, a quarter-mile-long Mitsubishi factory was a mountainous tangle of steel.—
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
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In contrast with the tangle of criminal cases which mostly stalled against Trump, Brazilian courts moved swiftly against Bolsonaro, threatening to end his political career and fracture his right-wing movement.—
Ricardo Brito,
USA Today,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Bigelow and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim construct a frighteningly plausible scenario in which a multitude of dilemmas—practical and personal, bureaucratic and existential—overlap in real time and at a mounting rate.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Aug. 2025
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Recent tours to the U.S. have been trickier, leaving them with the dilemma of whether sleep is really that important as kick-off times stretch into the early hours.—
Art de Roché,
New York Times,
31 July 2025
Noun
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This photograph shows a mosquito trap as part of the fight against the Chikungunya pandemic by mosquitoes in Saint-Benoit on the French overseas island of La Reunion on April 22.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Aug. 2025
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Cleanup brush and leaf piles, which provide excellent cover for voles. Use a trap.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
2 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The sandwich is tiered with two goetta patties, lettuce, a special sauce (not tartar sauce) and pickles.—
Kaycee Sloan,
The Enquirer,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Cooked low and slow over oak or mesquite, brisket is sliced thick and served with minimal fuss—just a few pickles, onions, and a slice of white bread.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
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That failure is symbolized most starkly in the mute dissolution of his own group, formed to help save Chicago from its pension morass but which instead silently acquiesced in making that threat markedly worse.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Aug. 2025
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The complexities of the issues and the broad array of competing stakeholders, along with lawsuits which often delay progress for years at a time, all combine to create a permitting morass which is extremely hard to untangle.—
David Blackmon,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
Noun
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Whole home fans and swamp coolers, which bring in air from outside, should be avoided unless there is no other means to keep cool.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Aug. 2025
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Instead, consider making a homemade air conditioner or swamp cooler.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
30 July 2025
Noun
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Does TikTok go the Twitter-ian way of far-right quicksand pit?—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
9 July 2025
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Some have likened this to building a skyscraper on quicksand.—
Alexander Sudeykin,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quagmire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quagmire. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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