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
There’s a bit of fantasy in this novel as Vivian ascends to the Beyond, a purgatory of sorts, where she is guided by an angel figure named Martha.
—
Amanda Favazza, Southern Living, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet each, in a different key, experiences the sunshine as a species of purgatory.
—Ben Croll, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
Beane strived to avoid salary-cap purgatory.
—Tim Graham, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026
The Heat seems headed for a fourth straight season in play-in purgatory, just outside the playoffs proper.
—Greg Cote
february 11, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Amanda Favazza, Southern Living, 15 Feb. 2026
Yet each, in a different key, experiences the sunshine as a species of purgatory.
—Ben Croll, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
Beane strived to avoid salary-cap purgatory.
—Tim Graham, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026
The Heat seems headed for a fourth straight season in play-in purgatory, just outside the playoffs proper.
—Greg Cote
february 11, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatory
Noun
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More than 270 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to combat the inferno.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
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Police spokesperson Frederic Papaux of Fribourg canton, or region, said the inferno broke out Tuesday evening on a bus in the town of Kerzers, about 15 miles west of Bern, the Swiss capital.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The combination of weak hiring and increasing inflationary pressures arising from the war creates a nightmare for the Federal Reserve, which must decide whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or hold off to help keep a lid on prices.—
Paul Wiseman,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
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Johnson said the freshman was a mismatch nightmare, bullying smaller guards and utilizing his quickness against larger forwards.—
Caleb Yum,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Now, in an age of instant communications, their Cold War counterparts could nonetheless disappear into a covert netherworld, loosening Washington’s controls and freeing them to plot coups, mobilize armies, and install governments.—
Alfred McCoy,
Literary Hub,
26 Feb. 2026
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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
Noun
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Compared with all that — and the agony for the Dodgers of leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 10th — the go-ahead homer, by Smith off Shane Bieber with two outs in the top of the 11th, was almost elementary.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
4 Mar. 2026
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But Open, Heaven also courses with youth’s great agony, the cruelty that learning to love should be inexorably followed by learning to grieve its undoing.—
Gabrielle Bellot,
Literary Hub,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The pic which stars a murderer’s row of thespians including Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Al Pacino, and Martin Scorsese, follows a disillusioned author who is drawn into a violent underworld quest to authenticate a manuscript believed to be Dante Alighieri’s original Divine Comedy.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2026
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When Martin gets blackmailed by gangsters, the pair knock off a mafia henchman and plunge themselves deep into the Australian underworld, all while trying to keep their business afloat.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The rise of the gig economy and remote work has finally broken the cubicle curse, giving us the freedom to answer emails from a mountain cabin or run a startup from a beachside bistro.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
6 Mar. 2026
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Pay multiple people from the crafts site Etsy to perform tarot readings, lift any existing curses and otherwise engage in witchcraft.—
Tyler Estep,
AJC.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Russell Wilson cap hell is over.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
10 Mar. 2026
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But as the first few days of the joint men’s and women’s event have demonstrated yet again, there is sometimes a bit of hell in tennis’ Garden of Eden.—
Douglas Robson,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Dean Puckett, United Kingdom, 2025 A single mother and her child are put through a nightmarish ordeal when a politician knocks on their door.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
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What should have been a routine trip to the polls on election night turned into a frustrating ordeal for Dallas County voter Kerra Scott.—
Amelia Mugavero,
CBS News,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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