as in fires
a test of faith, patience, or strength
the hikers were finally rescued after a three-day ordeal in the wilderness
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Recent Examples of ordeals
Meanwhile, Phillips said, victims are left to live with the impacts of the perpetrators’ actions — with the survivors in this case forced to continue to relive their ordeals as the case continues on to the Court of Appeal.
—
Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 3 June 2026
And for that matter, how could adults accurately account for such ordeals?
—Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026
Lasser’s ordeals began to infect what Americans saw on screen.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
That was a dramatic improvement over recent weekends, when social media lit up with complaints of hour-and-a-half ordeals.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
But the responsibility to inform should not fall on the shoulders of the women who’ve survived these ordeals.
—Tina Sturdevant, New York Times, 10 May 2026
Others have also turned their personal ordeals into stories of inspiration.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Apr. 2026
The medical ordeals are traumatic and disgusting, but fascinating and full of the quirks of modern life.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 8 Jan. 2026
Both women survived, but are still reeling from ordeals that have drawn national attention — in part, because they were captured on video and shared on social media.
—CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 3 June 2026
And for that matter, how could adults accurately account for such ordeals?
—Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026
Lasser’s ordeals began to infect what Americans saw on screen.
—Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
That was a dramatic improvement over recent weekends, when social media lit up with complaints of hour-and-a-half ordeals.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
But the responsibility to inform should not fall on the shoulders of the women who’ve survived these ordeals.
—Tina Sturdevant, New York Times, 10 May 2026
Others have also turned their personal ordeals into stories of inspiration.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Apr. 2026
The medical ordeals are traumatic and disgusting, but fascinating and full of the quirks of modern life.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 8 Jan. 2026
Both women survived, but are still reeling from ordeals that have drawn national attention — in part, because they were captured on video and shared on social media.
—CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ordeals
Noun
-
In the early evenings just before sunset, the islanders lit fires and the women began to cook.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Six months before the January 2025 fires, directed ChatGPT to generate an image of a burning forest, a bunch of people running away from it, with people in poverty trying to get past a gigantic gate with dollar signs on it.—
Sierra van der Brug,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
Post-punk bands face few gauntlets as arduous as the slow song, and Landowner challenge themselves to traverse three of them.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Those odds proved to be correct, as One Battle and Sinners added the final jewels to their respective gauntlets en route to this Sunday’s Academy Awards.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Other, smaller pilot trials found that keto improved bipolar disorder and schizophrenia symptoms; importantly, participants in the studies remained on their medications to treat those conditions.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
16 June 2026
-
As Luigi Mangione's legal team heads back to court in New York City this week for a key pretrial hearing, some legal experts say his populist appeal, fueled in part by what some describe as his Instagram-ready good looks, could complicate his trials.—
Suzanne Nuyen,
NPR,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ordeals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ordeals. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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