Word
mire
US/ˈmaɪɝ/
UK/mˈaɪə/
Definition
n. a deep, soft, and wet place that is hard to walk through. It can also mean a difficult or unpleasant situation that is hard to get out of.
n. a soft, wet, and muddy area of ground; by extension, a state of difficulty, confusion, or moral degradation. Often used in the plural to describe a complex or problematic situation.
Examples
“The hikers got stuck in a deep mire of mud.”
“The company found itself in a legal mire after the discovery of the hidden documents.”
“The poet describes the protagonist's descent into a moral mire, where the lines between right and wrong become increasingly blurred by his own ambition.”
Examples
simple
“The hikers got stuck in a deep mire of mud.”
contextual
“The company found itself in a legal mire after the discovery of the hidden documents.”
complex
“The poet describes the protagonist's descent into a moral mire, where the lines between right and wrong become increasingly blurred by his own ambition.”
Real-World Examples
“The Marshybank delta was very low-lying, with shallow lakes, mires and floodplains traversed by sluggish, sinuous rivers.” “Libya has been mired in political dysfunction since the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, which shattered State institutions and triggered recurring struggles over legitimacy and power.” Etymology
From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic miuzijō, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic meusą, whence Old English mēos, and Proto-Germanic musą, whence Old English mos (English moss).
From Middle English mire, from Old English mȳre, mīere, from Proto-West Germanic miurijā, from Proto-Germanic miurijǭ (“ant”). Cognate to Old Norse maurr, Danish myre, Middle Dutch miere (“ant”) (Dutch mier). All probably from Proto-Indo-European *morwi- (“ant”), whence also cognate to Latin formīca.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/mire