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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of purgatory
Regardless of what’s keeping indicators in purgatory, business-friendly Republicans have two ways of dealing with it: eliminating the uncertainty that’s within their control — which means passing a tax bill — and getting accustomed to the rest.
—
Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 20 June 2025
Everything else resides in a permanently fuzzy, unsettled background, a constant middle distance that traps the characters in their spiritual purgatory.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
This was the Burnett that gained a kind of cult fame, the filmmaker in middle age, treading purgatory.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
More than two hours of looking at the fey-preppy outfit costume designer Sara Ryung Clement prepared for Horowitz’s Josh becomes a kind of fashion purgatory for audience and protagonist alike.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 20 June 2025
Everything else resides in a permanently fuzzy, unsettled background, a constant middle distance that traps the characters in their spiritual purgatory.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025
This was the Burnett that gained a kind of cult fame, the filmmaker in middle age, treading purgatory.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
More than two hours of looking at the fey-preppy outfit costume designer Sara Ryung Clement prepared for Horowitz’s Josh becomes a kind of fashion purgatory for audience and protagonist alike.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatory
Noun
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Taylor Swift poured tanks of gasoline on social media, struck a match and lit the internet in an inferno of excitement.—
Bryan West,
The Tennessean,
13 Aug. 2025
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It is not yet known whether the person died in the inferno or drowned.—
Escher Walcott,
People.com,
20 July 2025
Noun
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Relocated to a coastal town under the care of her brother’s best friend, Axel Nguyen, Leah grapples with grief, haunting nightmares and a fractured sense of self.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
7 Aug. 2025
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However, for those with a decade or more left in the workforce, understanding the challenges faced by today’s retirees and how to best prepare for them can mean the difference between living the dream and living the nightmare.—
Deb Boyden,
Fortune,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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The twin netherworlds—named after the mythical Greek god of the underworld and the pilot who shuttled souls across the river Styx—circle more than five billion kilometers distant from the sun, along an orbit that Stern’s Pluto expedition took nine years to reach.—
Kevin Holden Platt,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2025
Noun
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For many, the relationship with tequila ended in their early 20s with promises made to some dormitory deity — often made of porcelain — to end a miserable night’s agony.—
Todd Harmonson,
Oc Register,
4 Aug. 2025
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My wing-scarfing strategy was to plow through as many as possible before the agony set in, then survive the remainder without committing the day-ruining error of touching my eyes.—
Bradley Hohulin,
IndyStar,
2 Aug. 2025
Noun
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With the exception of one strange, teasingly surreal scene, which conjures the feel of a yakuza thriller set somewhere between a criminal underworld and a metaphysical overworld, Kurosawa sidesteps any hint of the supernatural.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
17 July 2025
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But the story tells how Sedna came to rule over the Inuit underworld.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
6 July 2025
Noun
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Rumors of a Satanic curse on the event skittered around the Haight, so early on the morning of the 14th, Ginsberg, Snyder, and Alan Watts conducted a pradakshina, a Buddhist purification rite.—
Dennis McNally,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
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As those points attest, emotional wording can be a blessing and a curse.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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With love, with longing, with righteous rage or shameful guilt, on a sacrificial pyre or in the eternal flames of hell: There are so many ways to burn.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
14 Aug. 2025
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An original work set in the world of 1950s ping pong culture, the film tells the story of Marty Mauser (Chalamet), a young man with a dream no one respects, who goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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What seemed to be several employees were recorded anxiously monitoring the ordeal.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Barnea worried that some of Israel’s best soldiers and spies would be killed or taken hostage, a nightmare for Israelis already deeply pained by the ordeal of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the attack of Oct. 7, 2023.—
Yossi Melman,
ProPublica,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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