1
as in inferno
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 nightmare
a place or state of temporary suffering
We found ourselves trapped in the purgatory of a rush-hour traffic jam.
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Recent Examples of purgatory
This is not the gleeful dance party of purgatory—there is a more sinister and sincere quality to it.
—
Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
Feeling stuck in football purgatory — good enough to squeak into the playoffs but never great enough to contend — fans in Pittsburgh grew frustrated.
—Mike Defabo, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Turns out the Knicks didn’t need more Brunson to free themselves from their place in basketball purgatory.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
Sátántangó’s desolate landscapes, dominated by mud, wind, and overcast skies, summoned a vision of earthly purgatory unrivaled in almost all of cinema.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
Feeling stuck in football purgatory — good enough to squeak into the playoffs but never great enough to contend — fans in Pittsburgh grew frustrated.
—Mike Defabo, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Turns out the Knicks didn’t need more Brunson to free themselves from their place in basketball purgatory.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
Sátántangó’s desolate landscapes, dominated by mud, wind, and overcast skies, summoned a vision of earthly purgatory unrivaled in almost all of cinema.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatory
Noun
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In a disturbing incident in the northern city of Rasht, regime forces shot unarmed civilians trying to escape an inferno engulfing its bazaar.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Jonathan Rinderknecht has been charged with setting the fire that grew into the massive inferno.—
Michelle Edgar,
Daily News,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Not to be overly dramatic, but dressing up for the office is basically my nightmare.—
Jamie Allison Sanders,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
-
That perfect life becomes a nightmare, or is revealed to have been one all along.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Girand’s journey into this netherworld was sparked by neighborhood chaos and an attempt to understand what was happening.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
12 Jan. 2026
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Nicole finds herself in an all too familiar place for those who have experienced the early phase of young-onset neurological disease, a netherworld between acceptance and denial.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Noun
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That data may suffer from recency bias—the last memory of fans who enjoy part of a great match but eventually lose their seat is negative, whereas fans who waited for hours to get into the end of a great match may forget the agony of the wait.—
Lev Akabas,
Sportico.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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One lives vicariously with the band through the agony of the days when creativity was limited by how much tape was available or how much space there was on a single album without making the perilous leap to double.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Fame and fortune beckon, but soon their newfound celebrity status attracts attention from the criminal underworld.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Jan. 2026
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Their rapid ascent to fame and fortune at first seems like a dream come true, but soon their celebrity attracts attention from Almaty’s criminal underworld, and their scheme spins dangerously out of control.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In the preview, it was mentioned that Leon has something called the Umbrella curse.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
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In the 2002 comedy, McAdams plays a catty teen who's turned into, yep, Saturday Night Live alum Schneider, via a curse.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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If all goes to hell and America devolves into a rank dictatorship, beware the bootlicker.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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This feels more like early Game of Thrones, when Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) was still cracking wise and not everything had gone to hell.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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My dad for enduring his heart transplant ordeal and surviving against all odds and my mom for her undying loyalty and being the best teammate of all time!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Sweeney posted a video of the ordeal to her Instagram on Monday night.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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