quagmire
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
quagmire
- /ˈkwæɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈkwɒɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈkwæɡ.maɪɹ/ Canada, US
- /ˈkwæɡ.mɑɪə(ɹ)/ Australia
- /ˈkwɔɡ.mɑɪə(ɹ)/ Australia
Where it comes from
Recorded since 1579, from quag + mire. The sense “perilous, mixed up and troubled situation” has been recorded since 1775.
Alternatively, the word may apparently be a variation of the earlier quakemire, from quake + mire.
Compare typologically Bulgarian тресавище (tresavište), Polish trzęsawisko, Russian тряси́на (trjasína) (akin to трясти́ (trjastí)); зыбь (zybʹ), зыбу́н (zybún) (<… Proto-Slavic *zybь).
noun quagmires
- A swampy, soggy area of ground. That quagmire regularly ‘swallows’ caught-up hikers’ boots
- A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle. The paperwork got lost in a quagmire of bureaucracy.
verb quagmires · quagmiring · quagmired
- To embroil (a person, etc.) in complexity or difficulty.
