Home Dictionary Mmire

mire

A stretch of swampy or boggy ground that is soft and wet. / A complicated or unpleasant situation that is difficult to escape from. / To cause something to become stuck in mud or a swamp. / To involve someone or something in a difficult or complex situation from which it is hard to extricate them. / To become stuck in mud or a difficult situation.

NounTransitive VerbIntransitive Verb

pl: mirespast: miredpp: mireding: miring

This term evokes a heavy, suffocating sensation of being trapped. In its literal sense, it describes the physical struggle against thick, viscous earth that resists movement and pulls objects downward. It carries a connotation of filth and stagnation.

When used figuratively, it describes a psychological or systemic paralysis. It suggests a situation where every attempt to move forward only results in deeper entanglement, often associated with bureaucracy, scandal, or emotional distress.

Meanings

Noun

A stretch of swampy or boggy ground that is soft and wet.

The wheels of the truck sank deep into the mire.

Noun

A complicated or unpleasant situation that is difficult to escape from.

The company became bogged down in a mire of legal disputes.

Transitive Verb

[~ something]

To cause something to become stuck in mud or a swamp.

The heavy rains mired the convoy in the valley.

Transitive Verb

[~ someone/something in something]

To involve someone or something in a difficult or complex situation from which it is hard to extricate them.

The project was mired in bureaucracy for several years.

Intransitive Verb

[~ in something]

To become stuck in mud or a difficult situation.

The vehicle mired in the thick clay of the riverbank.

Examples

The horses struggled to pull the carriage through the deep mire.

History

I feel like I am sinking into a mire of debt and despair.

The army was mired in the swamp for three days during the retreat.

History

We cannot let this peace treaty get mired in petty arguments.

Business

The boots were completely caked in thick, black mire.

Fantasy

Why is this simple application process mired in so much red tape?

Office

The wheels spun uselessly as the jeep mired in the soft sand.

Travel

He spent years mired in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife.

The monster emerged slowly from the bubbling mire of the wasteland.

Supernatural

Phrasal Verbs

mire down

to become stuck or bogged down in a difficult situation or physical mud

The negotiations mired down over the issue of tariffs.

Related Words

swamp bog quagmire marsh slough mud morass muddy stuck wetland peat fen sludge silt clay stagnation impasse entanglement difficulty obstacle predicament sinkhole drainage waterlog viscosity sticky muck

Last Updated: May 2026•Report an Error