A quagmire is a soft, wet area of ground that sinks underfoot, like a patch of deep mud or a bog that looks solid but gives way when you step on it. Imagine walking through the woods and suddenly finding yourself ankle-deep in muck that pulls at your boots with every step. The harder you struggle, the more stuck you become. That's a quagmire.

People also use quagmire to describe any difficult situation that keeps getting worse no matter what you try. A simple plan that turns into a complicated mess with no clear solution becomes a quagmire. A country might enter what seems like a small conflict, only to find itself trapped in years of complicated problems with no easy way out.

Whether literal or figurative, a quagmire is something that's much easier to get into than to escape from.