Meanings
plural quags · alternative quaw · alternative obsolete possibly rare quagh
- obsoleteQuagmire; marsh; bog.
Crooked or straight, through quags or thorny dells
1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium; or, a Review of Schools2 more examples
If a person ventures on one of these quags, it bends in waves under his feet; and if the surface breaks, he is in danger of sinking to the bottom.
1771 December 16, John Walker, Account of the Irruption of Solway MossI tell you frankly that less than twenty thousand pounds will not extricate me from the quag of ruin in which I am entangled—lost!
1865, Sheridan Le Fanu, Uncle Silas
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*kwabbā“soggy ground”
- Old English*cwabbe“that which shakes or trembles, something soft and flabby”
- Middle Englishquabbe“a marsh, bog”
- Englishquag
Uncertain. Most often suggested to be an alteration of Middle English quabbe (“a marsh, bog”), from Old English *cwabbe (“that which shakes or trembles, something soft and flabby”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwabbā (“soggy ground”); this is supported by 1590s attestations of quabmire for quagmire (other earlier variants are quamire, from the 1550s, and quavemire from the 1520s). It has alternatively been suggested to be related to quake, as quaggy ground quakes when trod. Compare typologically Russian тряси́на (trjasína) (see for more).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with quag
Cite this entry
quag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quag
“quag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quag. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quag,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quag.
Source: quag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.