TRIBULATION Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

tribulation

noun

ˌtri-byə-ˈlā-shən

Definition of tribulation

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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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tribulation In the visual, Swift and Johnson mirror one another as Johnson struggles through tribulations with Farrell, including a mysterious poisoning. — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026 It could only be operated after much tribulation, showcasing the challenges of operating new technologies in the harsh environments of space. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026 New York’s summer weather has been a trial and a tribulation, intense heat — temperatures reached over 100 degrees in Central Park on the hottest day in July — alternating with gales and floods. — Matthew Schneier, Curbed, 27 Aug. 2026 Irene can do the hard things and get through whatever tribulations get thrown her way. — Liz Rosenberg, The Conversation, 14 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tribulation

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tribulation

Noun

The rise of self-harm influencers—people for whom demonstrating their distress online has become a source of income and validation—is a terrifying new development.

— Gavin Francis, The New York Review of Books, 24 Oct. 2026
CoreWeave, the leader of the pack, has seen spreads on its CDS widen past 11%, generally viewed as a distress level, as investors have to pay up for protection against default.

— Isabel O'Brien, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of distress

Noun

Taking the McDavid minutes away gives us the purest form of agony these defencemen are experiencing at this time.

— Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
The prisoner in question, Doug Korpi, had also admitted that his agony was an act to journalist Ben Blum, who included the revelation in a broader takedown of the experiment published in 2018.

— Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of agony

Noun

While some issues are clearly partisan — including the country’s current economic misery, the long-running war in Iran and the attacks on the Affordable Care Act — others are grounded in basic decency.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2026
But the stand-alone fragment, in the seeming spirit of Franz Kafka’s surreal and unsettling fiction, links success to misery, and happiness to death.

— Robert S. Levine, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of misery

Noun

Better Over Time should give him an opportunity to expunge his anguish and, if not necessarily heal, then find clarity on why his preternatural talent has brought a mixture of blessings and frustration.

— Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2026
His role as a theater director in ‘The Debut,’ isn’t the showstopping kind, but it is made memorable for the actor’s moments of tenacity, anguish and vulnerability.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of anguish

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tribes

tribulation

tribulations

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Style

“Tribulation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tribulation. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of tribulation

noun

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