KWAG-mire
QUAGMIRE A soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot; a complex or hazardous situation that is hard to escape.
Yes. QUAGMIRE is in the Scrabble-style word list used by our tools and scores 20 points in Scrabble, 23 in Words With Friends and 22 in Wordfeud (base tile values, no board multipliers). Always check the dictionary your game uses (NWL, Collins or the WWF list) before playing.
| Letter | Q | U | A | G | M | I | R | E | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Words With Friends | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
| Wordfeud | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
A quagmire literally refers to a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot, essentially a marsh or swamp where solid ground becomes treacherous mud. The word combines 'quag' (to shake) with 'mire' (swampy ground), perfectly capturing the unstable nature of such terrain.
Metaphorically, quagmire has become more commonly used to describe any complex, hazardous, or entrapping situation from which it is difficult to escape. Political and military ventures are often described as quagmires when they become protracted and seemingly impossible to resolve.
In word games, 'quagmire' is an excellent 8-letter word featuring the high-scoring Q. Its combination of common letters with the Q makes it more playable than many Q words, and its length makes it eligible for bingo bonuses.
The word 'quagmire' dates from the 1570s, combining 'quag' (a variant of 'quake,' meaning to shake or tremble) with 'mire' (muddy or swampy ground). The 'quag' element likely comes from the quaking or trembling motion of unstable boggy ground when walked upon. The metaphorical sense of 'difficult situation' emerged in the 1760s. The word gained renewed prominence during the Vietnam War, which was frequently described as a quagmire.
Anagrams: no other word uses exactly the letters of QUAGMIRE.
Hooks: no front hooks; back QUAGMIRES.
Words inside QUAGMIRE: 113 shorter words can be made from these letters – highest scoring: MARQUEMAQUIUMIAQQUAGQUAREQUIREQUAIQUAQIGAMIERIMAGERMAIGRE. See all words from QUAGMIRE.