1
as in infernos
a temporary place or state in which the souls of people who die make amends for their sins
It was a summer job that felt like purgatory to the teen.
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2
as in nightmares
a place or state of temporary suffering
We found ourselves trapped in the purgatory of a rush-hour traffic jam.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatories
Noun
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Now, infernos sweep through populous towns and cities.
Noun
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And that’s the stuff that should really give us nightmares.
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The bench eventually became long and gifted with Te-Hina Paopao, Madina Okot and others, and then the Dream caused nightmares for their opponents with one of the grandest deals ever during WNBA free agency.
Noun
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Smith stays largely mum on the news of the day, be that Kirk’s killing, or ICE raids, or whatever hells await in the coming weeks.
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The protagonist's youth doesn't defang the story, as Silent Hill f wastes no time thrusting Hinako and her friends into their personal hells.
Noun
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Morgan and her Judgment Day cronies tried to bribe Danhausen to put curses on their opponents.
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In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.
Noun
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When the gang comes to the attention of Major Chester Campbell, a DCI in the Royal Irish Constabulary, the wheels are set in motion for adventures through the dangerous underworlds of early 20th-century Britain.
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For Aronofsky, the city’s ethnic blend has no special claim on virtue; there seem to be as many criminal underworlds as there are demographic groups.
Noun
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During discussions about elementary and middle school social studies curriculum, board members made addendums, including education about the horrors of communism, why the Second Amendment was created and how counterculture increased the rate of divorce.
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The diamond gave her space to run toward something when the horrors of her past threatened to engulf her.
Noun
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Jean-Pierre is an artifact of an age that looks recent on paper but feels prehistoric in practice—the age of pantsuits, the word ’empowerment,’ the musical Hamilton, the cheap therapeutic entreaties to ‘work on yourself’ and ‘lean in’ to various corporate abysses.
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On the other side of the country, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, a longtime reader favorite, is a warm alternative to sterile airport abysses.
Noun
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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.
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And for that matter, how could adults accurately account for such ordeals?
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“Purgatories.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatories. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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