morass

[ muh-ras ]

noun

1. a tract of low, soft, wet ground.
2. a marsh or bog.
3. marshy ground.
4. any confusing or troublesome situation, especially one from which it is difficult to free oneself; entanglement.

morass

/ məˈræs /

noun

1. a tract of swampy low-lying land
2. a disordered or muddled situation or circumstance, esp one that impedes progress

Word History and Origins

Origin of morass¹

1645–55; < Dutch moeras, alteration (by association with moer marsh; moor ¹ ) of Middle Dutch maras < Old French mareis < Germanic. See marsh

Word History and Origins

Origin of morass¹

C17: from Dutch moeras, ultimately from Old French marais marsh

Example Sentences

Before wading into the legal morass these lawsuits are attempting to navigate, let’s take a quick look at how the technology is developed and why copyright has become an issue.

From Los Angeles Times

After 2020, Republicans chose not to look inward and instead descended into a conspiratorial morass of denial and rage that prevented them, at least publicly, from addressing the sources of their defeat.

From Slate

His vice president, who didn’t just lose the 2020 presidential primary but flamed out in a morass of campaign drama and policy incoherence, became the candidate, as Democrats fell in line with minimal grumbling faster than you could say “coconut tree.”

From Slate

The "upper middle-class" label invoked by Reich is an effort to crawl out of the conceptual and terminological morass: Who or what is the middle class, exactly, and how useful is it to split that up into the "upper" or "lower" or "Black" or "suburban" middle classes to suit a particular point?

From Salon

They rotate and flutter, their disturbing reflection into mirrored infinity entangled with your own gawking reflection, sinking into a morass of street waste.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chaos
• quagmire
• tangle