morass

UK: /məˈræs/ US: /məˈræs/ ,(mə ras′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mo•rass /məˈræs/   n. [countable]

1. a marsh or bog.
2. something confusing or troublesome or from which it is difficult to free oneself:
   a morass of details.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mo•rass  (mə ras′), n. 

1. a tract of low, soft, wet ground.
2. a marsh or bog.
3. marshy ground.
4. any confusing or troublesome situation, esp. one from which it is difficult to free oneself;
   entanglement.

• Gmc. See marsh
• Old French mareis
• Dutch moeras, alteration (by association with moer marsh; compare moor¹) of Middle Dutch maras
• 1645–55

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

morass / məˈræs/ noun

1. a tract of swampy low-lying land
2. a disordered or muddled situation or circumstance, esp one that impedes progress

Etymology: 17th Century: from Dutch moeras, ultimately from Old French marais marsh