different between quicksand vs quagmire

English

Etymology

From Middle English quyksande, from Old English cwecesand (“quicksand”), equivalent to quick (“living”) +? sand. Cognate with Swedish kvicksand (“quicksand”), Icelandic kviksandur, kviksyndi (“quicksand”). More at quick, sand.

Noun

quicksand (countable and uncountable, plural quicksands)

1. Wet sand that things readily sink in, often found near rivers or coasts

   My feet were firmly lodged in the quicksand, and the more I struggled the more I sank into it.

2. Anything that pulls one down or buries one metaphorically

   The quicksands of youth...

Translations

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kw??.ma??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?kwæ?.ma???/
• Hyphenation: quag?mire

Noun

quagmire (plural quagmires)

1. A swampy, soggy area of ground.

   Synonyms: marsh, marshland, mire, quag
2. (figuratively) A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle; a predicament.

Translations

Verb

quagmire (third-person singular simple present quagmires, present participle quagmiring, simple past and past participle quagmired)

1. (transitive) To embroil (a person, etc.) in complexity or difficulty.

References

• quagmire at OneLook Dictionary Search.