mired
Sunk in swamp
Mired means stuck or entangled in something that impedes movement or progress.
The word comes from mire, meaning mud or swampy ground, so to be mired is literally to be stuck in mud.
More often, though, mired describes abstract entanglement: The project got mired in bureaucratic delays.
A person mired in debt or a company mired in scandal finds themselves unable to move forward.
The word nearly always carries negative connotations of being trapped in an undesirable situation.
Hindered, unable to advance
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- overwhelmedDefeated by sheer volume
- burdenedCarrying a heavy load
- weighed downMade heavy by burden
hampered · hindered · stymied · impeded · obstructed · deadlocked · gridlocked · stagnant
Soft, wet ground
- morassSwampy, confusing situation
- bogAcidic peat wetland
- mudWet soil mixture
- sloughBoggy ground or cast-off skin
marshland · wetland · fen · muck · silt · ooze · peatbog · muskeg
bogged down
Hindered, unable to advance
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- overwhelmedDefeated by sheer volume
- burdenedCarrying a heavy load
weighed down · hampered · hindered · stymied · impeded · obstructed · deadlocked · gridlocked · stagnant · paralyzed
quagmire
Soft, wet ground
slough · marshland · wetland · fen · muck · silt · ooze · peatbog · muskeg · bayou
immobilized
Made unable to move
rooted · anchored · fixed · bogged down · sunken · embedded · stranded · marooned · grounded · foundered
enmeshed
Caught in complexity
embroiled · involved · implicated · entangled · wrapped up · snared · entrapped
- stuckjammed, clogged, trapped, stuck in mud, snowed in
miredadvancing
Moving in forward direction
progressing · moving forward · flourishing · thriving · on track
miredfree
Without payment or restriction
unencumbered · liberated · unfettered · extricated · disentangled
- wallow in the mireStay immersed in squalor