quagmire

noun

1 the rains arrived and the area was transformed into a red quagmire:

swamp, morass, bog, peat bog, marsh, mire, quag, marshland, fen, slough, quicksand;

Scottish, & Northern English moss;

Irish corcass;

North American bayou, pocosin, moor;

archaic marish, carr.

2 the case has become a judicial quagmire:

muddle, mix-up, mess, predicament, unfortunate/difficult/awkward situation, mare's nest, quandary, entanglement, tangle, jumble, imbroglio;

trouble, confusion, difficulty;

corner, tight corner/spot;

informal sticky situation, pickle, hole, stew, dilemma, fix, bind, jam, scrape, kettle of fish, how-do-you-do, hot/deep water;

West Indian comess.