1
as in marshes
spongy land saturated or partially covered with water
be careful in the swamp, because alligators sometimes lurk there
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in pickles
a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape
with her credit cards maxed out, and the making of minimum payments a challenge, debt seemed to be an ever-deepening swamp
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in floods
to cover with a flood
the boat was swamped by the huge wave has been swamped with paperwork since she returned from vacation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in overwhelms
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress
parents feeling swamped by work and family obligations
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 swamps
Andrew Greif, NBC news, 30 Jan. 2026
Much of that wildlife is concentrated within Corcovado National Park, 163-plus-square-miles of tropical forest, mangrove swamps, and beaches.
—Laura Kiniry, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Jan. 2026
The crab-eating frog (Fejervarya cancrivora) lives in mangroves, coastal swamps and estuaries across Southeast Asia.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
The bald cypress is native to much of the Gulf Coast and across riverine swamps of the Deep South.
—Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal, 12 Jan. 2026
More is at stake than preserving the singular beauty of the sawgrass prairies of Everglades National Park or cypress swamps of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
—Amy Green, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026
By gathering second- and thirdhand traces and elusive sources and data, historians have illuminated communities in the forests of the Kongo region, the deltas of West Africa, the mangroves of Cuba, and the swamps of the Carolinas.
—Laurent Dubois, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
Here rose swamps and ponds, enormous dark lakes and silver rivers that branched and ran like strands of mycelium.
—Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
They're found in freshwater swamps in Africa, from South Sudan to Zambia.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 13 Nov. 2025
Noun
But otherwise, the kids were free to roam around Iron River, playing football in their front yard and basketball on the playground, or cutting through woods and swamps.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 30 Jan. 2026
Much of that wildlife is concentrated within Corcovado National Park, 163-plus-square-miles of tropical forest, mangrove swamps, and beaches.
—Laura Kiniry, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Jan. 2026
The crab-eating frog (Fejervarya cancrivora) lives in mangroves, coastal swamps and estuaries across Southeast Asia.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
The bald cypress is native to much of the Gulf Coast and across riverine swamps of the Deep South.
—Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal, 12 Jan. 2026
More is at stake than preserving the singular beauty of the sawgrass prairies of Everglades National Park or cypress swamps of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
—Amy Green, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026
By gathering second- and thirdhand traces and elusive sources and data, historians have illuminated communities in the forests of the Kongo region, the deltas of West Africa, the mangroves of Cuba, and the swamps of the Carolinas.
—Laurent Dubois, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
Here rose swamps and ponds, enormous dark lakes and silver rivers that branched and ran like strands of mycelium.
—Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
They're found in freshwater swamps in Africa, from South Sudan to Zambia.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 13 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swamps
Noun
-
Wetlands in the area are also home to Everglades snail kites, which hunt for apple snails in freshwater marshes, and other rare species that once inhabited vast wet prairies drained for highways and neighborhoods.—
Jenny Staletovich,
Miami Herald,
24 Jan. 2026
-
But most tule marshes in California are now lost to development.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Serve it with or without a bun plus your favorite toppings like pickles, slaw, and extra sauce.—
Jenna Sims,
Southern Living,
21 Jan. 2026
-
Sook by Maydan is offering a $ 15-per-person Dine LA lunch menu with a choice of beef wrap or chicken shish taouk wrap, served with house pickles, labneh spread, and a farmers market side salad.—
Kaila Yu,
Forbes.com,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The title floods the screen, in lavishly flowing script, a whopping 49 minutes into this 108-minute neo-noir, not far off the halfway mark.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Those missions are especially timely, given Chicago's unhoused population floods the system for shelter for a place to stay warm when temperatures plummet.—
Tara Molina,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
For the characters, the love itself overwhelms every other consideration of feeling.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
-
What overwhelms her isn’t the wedding itself, but the realization that her lifelong role as Lexi’s default person is about to shift.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Florida has lost about 81,000 acres of wetlands like those in the Knott-Cowen tract overall since 2014, the Times found.—
Max Chesnes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
-
As sweeping changes to the federal Clean Water Act in recent years have weakened protections for wetlands, Illinois has become the first state in the nation to officially recognize a conservation tactic known as rewilding.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Rustin has slyly given her script a focus on women’s needs and feelings, a welcome departure for a genre that usually is more concerned about the men’s predicaments.—
Matthew J. Palm,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Jan. 2026
-
Brooks’s screenplay makes ample space to dump praise upon its protagonist while bemoaning her many predicaments.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Kyiv residents endure long daily blackouts as Russia devastates the power system, leaving tower block dwellers freezing in apartments with no heat or light.—
Derek Gatopoulos,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Exacerbating the problem, unpredictable rainfall cycling between drought and floods further devastates the region.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Three Tri-Valley school districts are facing significant financial dilemmas heading into next year, with budget cuts and potential layoffs threatening to hit classrooms.—
Kyle Martin,
Mercury News,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Readers send Miss Manners not only their table and party questions, but those involving the more complicated aspects of life - romance, work, family relationships, child-rearing, death - as well as philosophical and moral dilemmas.—
Judith Martin,
Dallas Morning News,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Swamps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swamps. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
