Morasses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A swampy area that is often soft and muddy, making it difficult to move through
2. a complex and confusing situation that traps or hinders progress
3. a state of entanglement or confusion that can impede clarity and decision-making

Etymology: The plural "morasses" is simply the ordinary plural of "morass," which first meant a literal stretch of soft, wet ground. The noun came into English from Dutch "moeras," meaning marsh or swamp, and the Dutch word had itself been borrowed from Old French "mareis" and earlier from a Frankish-era word for marsh. That path runs through the same ground as "marsh" and "marish," which are doublets of it, so English ended up with several versions of one watery idea. The metaphorical sense followed naturally. A traveller who sinks into a swamp is stuck and cannot easily move forward, and the image was extended to any situation that bogs a person down. The word's relative "quagmire," another English term for boggy ground that took on the same figurative sense, shows how readily such imagery moved from landscape to difficulty.

Synonyms: quagmires, swamps, bogs, wetlands, marshes

Antonyms: drylands, deserts, highlands