ordeal

[awr-deel, -dee-uhl, awr-deel]

noun

1. any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial.

2. a primitive form of trial to determine guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to fire, poison, or other serious danger, the result being regarded as a divine or preternatural judgment.

ordeal

/ ɔːˈdiːl /

noun

1. a severe or trying experience

2. history a method of trial in which the guilt or innocence of an accused person was determined by subjecting him to physical danger, esp by fire or water. The outcome was regarded as an indication of divine judgment

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordeal¹

before 950; Middle English ordal, Old English ordāl; cognate with Dutch oordeel, German Urteil. See a- ³, dole ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordeal¹

Old English ordāl, ordēl; related to Old Frisian ordēl, Old High German urteili (German Urteil ) verdict. See _deal ¹ , _dole ¹

Example Sentences

Now she simply wanted the ordeal to end.

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Finding an affordable place to live in New York City is an ordeal, but it doesn’t have to be as bad as it is.

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Like hundreds of thousands of others who lived along the coast of Tohoku, Ryoichi was at the start of what would be a long, terrifying ordeal.

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The seven-time world champion, whose splashy move to Ferrari last winter had been a childhood fantasy, called the whole ordeal a “nightmare.”

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His return closes an agonising 11-year ordeal that haunted both his family and the nation.

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Related Words

• agony 
• anguish 
• calamity 
• difficulty 
• nightmare 
• torment 
• torture 
• trial