as in distress
a state of great suffering of body or mind
a documentary chronicling the lasting tribulation of Holocaust survivors
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Recent Examples of tribulation
Getting forced to play little league baseball is about as emo as youthful tribulations get.
—
Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 10 Feb. 2026
Current totals of seven league goals and four assists suggest those early-season tribulations have been vanquished.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Such tribulations have hidden the kind of personal growth that Kerr has undergone as a coach, even if the record does not indicate it.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2025
In addition to Malcolm and Violet, the book follows the tribulations of another couple, Aaron and Cassandra, and a professor named Antonia, all of whom are connected through friendships and romantic history.
—Willing Davidson, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tribulation
Billie Bugara, Pitchfork, 10 Feb. 2026
Current totals of seven league goals and four assists suggest those early-season tribulations have been vanquished.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
Such tribulations have hidden the kind of personal growth that Kerr has undergone as a coach, even if the record does not indicate it.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2025
In addition to Malcolm and Violet, the book follows the tribulations of another couple, Aaron and Cassandra, and a professor named Antonia, all of whom are connected through friendships and romantic history.
—Willing Davidson, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tribulation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tribulation
Noun
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How did WalletHub determine financial distress?—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American Statesman,
25 Feb. 2026
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Employees expressed their distress about the mass layoffs on social media platforms such as Reddit.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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The biggest indication yet that Konstantinos Mavropanos’ stock is at an all-time high was the sudden silence around the London Stadium when the defender was seen holding his right knee in agony.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Italian carried on at Spurs for another 13 months before finally being put out of his misery after his much more memorable rant at Southampton in March 2023.—
Dan Kilpatrick,
New York Times,
26 Feb. 2026
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But Berthe has lost her whole family to the camps … isn’t the cause of her misery right there?—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Kathleen Hanna fronted punk greats Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, two bands that existed at different times in the evolving (but still sexist) conversation about women and their place in culture, with the musicians often serving as paragons of feminist critique and anguish.—
Eric Farwell,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Feb. 2026
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Even now, more than 40 years later, the lasting image of her career is of Decker laying on the track in anguish and tears after colliding with Zola Budd in the 1984 Olympic 3,000-meter run.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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That our divorce, though managed with comparative civility, caused our daughter abiding pain hardened my resolve to cap my output at one.—
Daniel Smith,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2026
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Gunshots to the abdomen were identified as abdominal pain; broken bones were recorded as a falling accident.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tribulation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tribulation. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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