quagmire
n. countablen. a very difficult and confusing situation that is hard to get out of. It can also mean a soft, muddy area of land that is dangerous to walk in.
n. a situation of great difficulty or confusion; a swamp or marshy ground. Often used metaphorically to describe a complex political or legal problem.
The company found itself in a legal quagmire after the merger.
The politician's scandal turned the election campaign into a quagmire of accusations and counter-accusations.
What began as a simple diplomatic mission quickly descended into a quagmire of bureaucratic red tape and conflicting international interests.
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).