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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Recent Examples of purgatory
The Rockies, meanwhile, remain trapped in baseball purgatory as a meat packer’s toy, building a home team for Phillies red and Cubbies blue to pound senseless while Denver’s transplants toast $3 drafts.
—
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2025
The record was announced less than a week prior to its release, following years of development purgatory — from its title changing multiple times to a protracted recording process.
—Sophie Williams, Billboard, 21 Mar. 2025
Until a clear transition plan is in place (something Trump’s remarks did not spell out), PSLF, IDR, and other forgiveness pathways are essentially in administrative purgatory.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
The teen drama series stars Peyton List as the recently dead Maddie Nears, who investigated her own mysterious disappearance while adjusting to high school purgatory in Season 1.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2025
The record was announced less than a week prior to its release, following years of development purgatory — from its title changing multiple times to a protracted recording process.
—Sophie Williams, Billboard, 21 Mar. 2025
Until a clear transition plan is in place (something Trump’s remarks did not spell out), PSLF, IDR, and other forgiveness pathways are essentially in administrative purgatory.
—Shahar Ziv, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
The teen drama series stars Peyton List as the recently dead Maddie Nears, who investigated her own mysterious disappearance while adjusting to high school purgatory in Season 1.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatory
Noun
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Sergeant Eshel and the others on duty died in the inferno.—
Isabel Kershner,
New York Times,
25 Jan. 2025
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With his wife trapped in the inferno, the protagonist must navigate competing priorities between saving lives and preventing a terrorist attack.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2025
Noun
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After blowing a 17-point lead in Saturday’s home loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Heat ran into the same nightmare on Monday.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
11 Mar. 2025
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Several audience members audibly whispered and even left the theater throughout the film’s abstract nightmare sequences and bloody plot twists.—
Selome Hailu,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The other two-thirds are on a scale of anxiously hopeful to beyond desperate -- an amorphous netherworld of doubt that, yes, includes the Miami Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa, or should.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
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But the film comes into its own at almost exactly an hour, as The Man begins the ritual and The Surrender threatens to go full occult gonzo, complete with a charmed circle and a bleak netherworld resembling Lucio Fulci’s 1981 splatter epic The Beyond.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
9 Mar. 2025
Noun
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His experiences at Fuchu Prison left him with frostbite, screaming in agony, after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures during 20 days in solitary confinement.—
Daniel Taylor,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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What began as a blissful afternoon in the Florida sun ended in agony when a Jeep Wrangler suddenly barreled over a man lying on the beach, police said.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Levon must pose as a drug dealer and infiltrate himself into this Chicago underworld populated by numerous stereotypical Russian Mafia types led by crime lord Wolo Kolisnyk (Jason Flemyng), and featuring his loose cannon son Dimi (Maximilian Osinski).—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2025
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The problem’s in the criminal underworld for people who are not recognised as being from a specific community.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Homewood’s location on the western shore of Lake Tahoe is both a blessing and a curse.—
Megan Michelson,
Outside Online,
4 Apr. 2025
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The annual cost-of-living adjustment Social Security recipients receive is both a blessing and a curse.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Immigrant women describe 'hell on earth' in ICE detention The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2025
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She’s already been through hell, so surviving is just innate within her.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The ordeal unraveled at Moore’s spa grand opening attended by RHOA cast members Porsha Williams, Cynthia Bailey, Drew Sidora, Shamea Morton Mwangi, Eady, Kelli Ferrell, and Angela Oakley, per USA Today.—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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Tavares-Abel plans to use stop motion animation to tell the story of her ancestor’s migration ordeal.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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