1
as in dilemmas
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
2
as in tangles
something that catches and holds
a protracted custody dispute that became a judicial quagmire
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 quagmires
Jeane used the example not to say that any of the three were in danger of closing, but to point out one of the enrollment quagmires in the district that covers 70 square miles.
—
Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2026
Despite a few diversions along the way, Minney keeps returning to craft as a solution to fashion’s many quagmires.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 14 Apr. 2026
But these occupations soon became bloody quagmires, with hundreds of military and tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
—Mo Rocca, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
But this is the wrong time for political sideshows or ethical quagmires.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2026
Despite a few diversions along the way, Minney keeps returning to craft as a solution to fashion’s many quagmires.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 14 Apr. 2026
But these occupations soon became bloody quagmires, with hundreds of military and tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
—Mo Rocca, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
But this is the wrong time for political sideshows or ethical quagmires.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quagmires
Noun
-
But neither option, Kuntz explained, seems likely to resolve Hollywood’s dilemmas.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
15 June 2026
-
Lead executives Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer will be dealing with far more pressing dilemmas on draft night and in the days that follow, but they’re also tasked with using the low-value pick to locate someone who can help Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets win immediately.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
Those tests include amyloid and tau PET scans to help detect amyloid plaque and tau tangles in the brain, while allowing for earlier detection and monitoring disease progression, according to the American Brain Foundation.—
Wendy Coschignano-Ford,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 June 2026
-
Before 2014, bull kelp—a whip-like kelp with bulbous air bladders and trailing blades —stretched across Northern California’s coastline in dense tangles.—
Tatjana Baleta,
Time,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
Rather than bridging shortfalls, both Seattle and Washington now face more difficult fiscal predicaments, Joblon said.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
18 May 2026
-
The madman strategy is for not-crazy leaders caught in adverse predicaments.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Officials with Connecticut’s mosquito management program are hard at work setting up traps and collecting mosquitoes for the presence of viruses that can cause illnesses in people, including West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
-
During their hospitalization, Alameda County Vector Control laid rat traps in and around the RV and sealed the vehicle, only opening it to remove the dead rats.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
The renaissance embraces the pickles themselves, the flavor of their pickling and even their packaging.—
Scottie Andrew,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
-
The fermentation in the miso and pickles is good for a healthy gut.—
Adam Yamaguchi,
CBS News,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
Gonzales has made no secret of her criticism of Hickenlooper’s current financial entanglements.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
-
However, once Venus enters Leo, your intimate affairs and emotional entanglements get hotter, messier and impossible to ignore.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
Noun
-
These many watering holes are reflective of the Lone Star state's varied geographic regions, from bald cypress swamps to mountainous desert lakes.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
16 June 2026
-
From the pine forests and black swamps to the marsh flats and on to the Gulf, the refuge burgeons with life in ways hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been there.—
Jeff VanderMeer,
Travel + Leisure,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
These familiar, turbulent morasses of swirling droplets continue to stymie scientists.—
Joseph Howlett,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quagmires.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quagmires. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
