as in ordeals
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.
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Recent Examples of vicissitudes
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vicissitudes
Noun
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Kruse and Fialko invested seven figures into rebuilding Priscilla’s brand, stabilizing her finances, settling her lawsuits, cleaning up numerous private family ordeals, and attempting to help Priscilla repair her relationship with her daughter.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Is the Hockomock League one of the toughest gauntlets in Massachusetts again?—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Amid the Mets' misfortunes, Michael Kay, a radio host and play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees, decided to weigh in.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
30 Sep. 2025
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Unimaginable misfortunes have the Ravens in this precarious situation, and certainly could continue.—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Now, a new report suggests the project may have hit technical challenges around that first device.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
6 Oct. 2025
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The week of awareness was launched in 1982, created in response to a surge of these challenges, according to the American Library Association.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But unlike the popular TV show, Gomez was seriously burdened by her mother’s troubles from a young age, according to The Cut.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
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The tackling troubles started during the first defensive series and continued throughout.—
Nicki Jhabvala,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At seventy, Padura is a voice of a generation that endured a long war in Angola and the privations that followed the Soviet collapse.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
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Since 2022, Russia repeatedly urged China to act quickly to save its economy from inevitable privations stemming from the collapse of its Western market.—
Ariel Cohen,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vicissitudes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vicissitudes. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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