morass

noun

mo·​rass mə-ˈras 

mȯ-

1

: marsh, swamp

2

a

: a situation that traps, confuses, or impedes

a legal morass

b

: an overwhelming or confusing mass or mixture

a morass of traffic jams

—Mary Roach

morassy

mə-ˈra-sē 

mȯ-

adjective

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The Swampy History of Morass

We won't swamp you with details: morass comes from the Dutch word moeras, which itself derives from an Old French word, maresc, meaning “marsh.” Morass has been part of English for centuries, and in its earliest uses was a synonym of swamp or marsh. (That was the sense Robert Louis Stevenson used when he described Long John Silver emerging from “a low white vapour that had crawled during the night out of the morass” in Treasure Island.) Imagine walking through a thick, muddy swamp: it's easy to compare such slogging to an effort to extricate yourself from a sticky situation. By the mid-19th century, morass had gained a figurative sense, and could refer to any predicament that was as murky, confusing, or difficult to navigate as a literal swamp.

Synonyms

• entanglement
• mesh(es)
• net
• noose
• quagmire
• quicksand
• snare
• tanglement
• toil(s)
• trap
• web

Examples of morass in a Sentence

advised against becoming involved in that country's civil war, warning that escape from that morass might prove nigh impossible

the distracted driver had driven his car off the road and into a morass

Recent Examples on the Web

Out of a morass of suggestions such as PalmPad, PalMate, Passport, Pilot, Comrade, and Way to Go emerged Taxi, until USR legal found the trademark had already been registered. —Cameron Kaiser, Ars Technica, 25 Apr. 2024

After the years in the DC Universe morass, the whole notion of Army of the Dead was supposed to revolve around Snyder relaxing, kicking back, and blowing up some zombies in Vegas, old-school style. —Will Leitch, Vulture, 20 Apr. 2024

Some cases are infamous, such as the thick morass of business, intelligence, and political ties between the Trump Organization and Russian oligarchs and officials that led to Trump’s first impeachment and is the focus of continuing investigations by various different U.S. agencies. —Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022

The government’s openness to the topic has Ufologists worried that a fragile consensus might end up in the culture-war morass — or pernicious conspiracies. —August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Dutch moeras, modification of Old French maresc, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English mersc marsh — more at marsh

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

morass

noun

mo·​rass mə-ˈras 

1

: marsh, swamp

2

: a situation that traps, confuses, or hinders