as in ordeal
a negative event or circumstance that is common to a particular setting or situation and is usually beyond one's control
The vicissitudes of medical school proved too much for the anxious student.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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 vicissitude
By using non-actors who have endured the vicissitudes of the world, Laxe didn’t have to develop the characters in a conventional way.
—
Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 12 Nov. 2025
Renaissance has prided itself on a debt-free history, despite the vicissitudes of performing arts fundraising.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Mere knick-knacks, which have all disappeared with the vicissitudes of years.
—Adam Verner
september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
But Hynes details life’s vicissitudes with poetic exactitude.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for vicissitude
Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 12 Nov. 2025
Renaissance has prided itself on a debt-free history, despite the vicissitudes of performing arts fundraising.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Mere knick-knacks, which have all disappeared with the vicissitudes of years.
—Adam Verner
september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
But Hynes details life’s vicissitudes with poetic exactitude.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for vicissitude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vicissitude
Noun
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
The match kicks off a grueling gauntlet of contests.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Arch had his pick of colleges, but Kilgore put him through the gauntlet anyway.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Still, Liverpool’s misfortune was the bigger anomaly here, and the side finishing first would normally expect draw paths closer to Arsenal’s.—
Conor O'Neill,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Prediction market users make their wartime gambits from someplace comfortable and safe, and hope to hit it big off of someone else's misfortune.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The earthly experience of personal grief and privation that inspired such transcendent beauty is mind-bending in its own way.—
Eric Bulson,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2026
-
Diaries kept by Eugenia Zieber describe the privations of the trail, chief among them the frequent deaths of fellow travelers.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vicissitude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vicissitude. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
