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
Can Arsenal survive four more ordeals?
—
Matt Slater, New York Times, 26 Apr. 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
On Instagram, and even on her reality show, Kardashian comes across as thrillingly impervious, wearing impassivity like body armor and putting her body and face through Olympian ordeals to draw our collective gaze.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2025
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
Matt Slater, New York Times, 26 Apr. 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
On Instagram, and even on her reality show, Kardashian comes across as thrillingly impervious, wearing impassivity like body armor and putting her body and face through Olympian ordeals to draw our collective gaze.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ordeals
Noun
-
Much of Pratt’s campaign has focused on the devastating fires in the Palisades last year and has attacked the response of Mayor Karen Bass.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
13 May 2026
-
Pratt responded to the criticism on social media, blaming incumbent mayoral candidate Karen Bass for the destruction caused by the fires.—
Rena Rowe,
The Washington Examiner,
13 May 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
-
Activist groups have long accused Iran of carrying out closed-door trials during which defendants are unable to fully defend themselves.—
Compiled byDemocrat-Gazette stafffrom wire reports,
Arkansas Online,
12 May 2026
-
The mRNA vaccine technology has since advanced, and is now being tested more broadly on patients in other trials, Balachandran says.—
Yuki Noguchi,
NPR,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ordeals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ordeals. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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