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
In today’s housing market, even the lucky ones often face exhausting ordeals and need to stretch their budgets to land a home.
—
Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
Kruse and Fialko invested seven figures into rebuilding Priscilla’s brand, stabilizing her finances, settling her lawsuits, cleaning up numerous private family ordeals, and attempting to help Priscilla repair her relationship with her daughter.
—Michaela Zee, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
Kruse and Fialko invested seven figures into rebuilding Priscilla’s brand, stabilizing her finances, settling her lawsuits, cleaning up numerous private family ordeals, and attempting to help Priscilla repair her relationship with her daughter.
—Michaela Zee, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ordeals
Noun
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows travelers to bring laptops on flights, but they must be stored in carry-on baggage only because fires are much harder to fight in cargo storage.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), between 2018 and 2022, an average of 835 home fires started with decorations, with a third traced back to candles.—
Amanda Greenwood,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Is the Hockomock League one of the toughest gauntlets in Massachusetts again?—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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While the women accused in the infamous Salem witch trials in colonial America have long since been pardoned, the convictions of hundreds of British women executed under similar laws officially still stand.—
James Frater,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
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Disney pulled its channels including ESPN and ABC from YouTube TV after contract negotiations between the companies failed, but some alternative services offering the channels have free trials for viewers.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ordeals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ordeals. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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