stuck in the mud

comparative more stuck in the mud · superlative most stuck in the mud

1. idiomaticStuck, unable to progress.

   The other studios joining the celebrations might crank up the volume, but perhaps it's the clouds louring overhead – stuck-in-the-mud creativity, uncertain revenue streams, growing global competition – that are responsible for the muted jubilation.

   2012 October 2, Phil Hoad, “Bollywood centenary: make a song and dance about it”, in The Guardian

   1 more example

   Gorbachev needed to end it because the cost of defence, rising blindly as the army ordered more and more missiles, was bankrupting the Soviet Union. Its economy, stuck in the mud and mired in congenital secrecy, couldn't cope anyway, but the burden of defence profligacy was forcing it to its knees.

   2011 February 5, Peter Preston, “The Dead Hand by David E Hoffman – review”, in The Guardian

1. uncountableA variant of the children's game of touch or tag in which a tagged player stands with arms and legs apart, and people crawling under such a player cannot be tagged.