- Today's Word
Harried
HAIR-eed
Definition
(adjective) Feeling strained as a result of persistent demands or stress.
Example
The harried assistant juggled calls, emails, and last-minute meetings.
Fun Fact
Harried stems from the same root as harass—both come from old Norse and Middle English words related to raiding or attacking. Originally used in military contexts, harried now refers to a psychological onslaught: the kind of pressure that comes from emails piling up, kids yelling, and zero time for yourself. It’s the perfect word for a Monday at 4:59 p.m.
(noun) A complicated and confusing situation that is extremely difficult to escape or make progress through.
What began as a simple contract dispute had become a morass of litigation, counter-claims, and procedural delays that no one involved could see the end of.
Morass derives from the Dutch moeras, meaning “marsh” or “swamp,” itself from the Old French marais — “marsh.” It entered English in the 17th century with its literal meaning of boggy, waterlogged ground before quickly acquiring its figurative sense of any situation that traps and exhausts in the same way a physical swamp does — something that looks passable until you’re already in it and discovering that every step forward costs more than the last.