morass

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mo=rass

CIDE DICTIONARY

morass, n. [OE. marras, mareis (perh. through D. moeras), fr. F. marais, prob. from L. mare sea, in LL., any body of water; but perh. influenced by some German word. See Mere a lake, and cf. Marsh.].

 A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.  [1913 Webster]

Morass ore. (Min.) See Bog ore, under Bog.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

morass, n.
1 an entanglement; a disordered situation, esp. one impeding progress.
2 literary a bog or marsh.

Etymology

Du. moeras (assim. to moer MOOR(1)) f. MDu. marasch f. OF marais marsh f. med.L mariscus

THESAURUS

morass

anarchy, baygall, bind, bog, bottom, bottomland, bottoms, buffalo wallow, chaos, clutch, complication, confusion, crunch, dunghill, embarrassing position, embarrassment, entanglement, everglade, fabulous formless darkness, fen, fenland, fine how-do-you-do, foul-up, glade, hassle, hell to pay, hobble, hog wallow, holm, hot water, how-do-you-do, imbroglio, jam, jungle, knot, labyrinth, license, marais, marish, marsh, marshland, meadow, mere, mesh, mess, mire, misrule, mix, mix-up, moor, moorland, moss, mud, mud flat, muddle, parlous straits, pass, peat bog, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, quag, quagmire, quicksand, salt marsh, scrape, screw-up, skein, slob land, slough, snafu, snarl, sough, spot, squeeze, stew, sticky wicket, strait, straits, sump, swale, swamp, swampland, taiga, tangle, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tricky spot, unholy mess, view, wallow, wash, web

ROGET THESAURUS

morass

Marsh

N marsh, swamp, morass, marish, moss, fen, bog, quagmire, slough, sump, wash, mud, squash, slush, baygall, cienaga, jhil, vlei, marsh, marshy, swampy, boggy, plashy, poachy, quaggy, soft, muddy, sloppy, squashy, paludal, moorish, moory, fenny.