unhealthy vapors rising from the ground or other sources; "the miasma of the marshes"; "a miasma of cigar smoke" an unwholesome atmosphere; "the novel spun a miasma of death and decay
You can describe something bad or confused that seems to be in the air all around you as a miasma. As time went on, his ambition to be part of the US Supreme Court faded in a miasma of alcohol and despair