泥濘(でいねい)

A literary or formal term for muddy, waterlogged ground. The kanji 泥(でい) means mud and 濘(ねい) means muddy or miry. In everyday speech, ぬかるみ is far more common for the same meaning.

This word is most often encountered in written Japanese — novels, essays, historical accounts, and news reports about natural disasters. It carries a heavier, more vivid tone than the colloquial ぬかるみ.

Common collocations

• 泥濘(でいねい)の道(みち): muddy road
• 泥濘(でいねい)に足(あし)を取(と)られる: to get one's feet stuck in mud
• 泥濘(でいねい)と化(か)す: to turn into a quagmire
• 泥濘(でいねい)の中(なか)を歩(ある)く: to walk through mud

Similar words

• ぬかるみ: mud, muddy place — the everyday word for the same concept
• 泥(どろ): mud — the basic, general word
• ぬかるむ: to become muddy — the verb form