purgatory

noun

Definition of purgatorynext
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 purgatory Later, in 2013, when running the label Radius-TWC for The Weinstein Co., Quinn rescued Bong’s film Snowpiercer from purgatory. — Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2025 Years of grinding have led them all to this point, with the end of the Championship purgatory in sight. — Jordan Campbell, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025 Heroic lead character and longshoreman Terry Malloy stands up to rackets boss Johnny Friendly, gets beaten bloody, and in the final reel leads his fellow longshoremen back into the brutal purgatory of the big city docks. — Jeffrey Steele, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025 This stock remains in break-up purgatory as investors wait for the company’s electronics division to be formally spun off. — Kevin Stankiewicz,morgan Chittum, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for purgatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purgatory
  1. inferno
  2. nightmare
  3. netherworld
  4. agony
  5. underworld
  6. curse
  7. hell
  8. ordeal
Noun
  • The recent battery fire in Moss Landing, Calif., turned into a towering inferno, forcing local evacuations and leading to a lawsuit from residents.
    — Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 5 Mar. 2025
  • These spot fires can grow into infernos that engulf your home.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2025
Definition of inferno
Noun
  • For Prince’s team, the damning press was a waking nightmare.
    — Jordan Runtagh, People.com, 15 Mar. 2025
  • As a quiet panic becomes obvious in Ryan’s eyes, the happy return begins to feel like a nightmare.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Definition of nightmare
Noun
  • 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
  • Great vacations exist in a temporal netherworld, unmoored from the reality of daily life.
    — Sofia Perez, Travel + Leisure, 30 Jan. 2025
Definition of netherworld
Noun
  • Just consider the agony of merging two or more sprawling thickets of technology.
    — Forbes, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The death of this beautiful 12 year old girl and the agony of her mother and family touched our entire nation greatly.
    — NPR, NPR, 5 Mar. 2025
Definition of agony
Noun
  • Described as a figure reminiscent of Robert De Niro's Jimmy the Gent from Goodfellas, the protagonist navigates a turbulent era, battling rival factions to seize control of the Hawaiian underworld.
    — Mark Davis, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 2025
  • The film premieres March 15 at the Roxy Cinema in New York, and stars Dario Yazbek Bernal and Jack Irv as two lovers whose whirlwind romance sends them down a rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.
    — Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 13 Mar. 2025
Definition of underworld
Noun
  • Then, Democrats have to be thinking about what happens if Republicans only have a mild case of the midterm curse.
    — Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Flubber can do anything, which is both a blessing and a curse for Professor Brainard.
    — Kara Nesvig, Parents, 12 Mar. 2025
Definition of curse
Noun
  • Buses zip by in their special lane while everyone else stews in bumper-to-bumper hell, half-tempted to ditch their car for a bus seat next time.
    — Staff report, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2025
  • So even if Meghan juggled citruses before dehydrating them while hopping on one leg, some were going to give her hell no matter what.
    — Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of hell
Noun
  • The duration of that ordeal is utterly unpredictable.
    — Joshua Stein, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
  • With rich archival footage and powerful testimonies, the film highlights not only the personal ordeal of an activist, but also the tenacious struggle of Native Americans for justice, freedom and restoration of historical truth.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 16 Mar. 2025
Definition of ordeal

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Cite this Entry

“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on purgatory

Nglish: Translation of purgatory for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about purgatory

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