ordeal

American  

[awr-deel, -dee-uhl, awr-deel] / ɔrˈdil, -ˈdi əl, ˈɔr dil /

noun

• ordeals
  plural

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.

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ordeal British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ordeals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ordeal

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

Explanation

An ordeal is something difficult or painful to go through. Something kind of hard like taking a test can be an ordeal, but often an ordeal is a serious and long-lasting event, like an illness or tragedy. When you go through an ordeal you have to deal with something tough. Waiting for someone you love to recover from an injury and come home from the hospital is an ordeal — for both of you — and being a victim of a crime is a different kind of ordeal. You can use this noun in an exaggerated way, too, as when you endure the long ordeal of cleaning the garage on a sunny weekend.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ordeal ordeals

For decades, the ordeal was a family taboo, something Lin only learned about later in his life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has faced a "stalker ordeal", headlines the Daily Mirror.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

She said the ordeal was the latest incident of “regional poisoning of that whole area.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

I was surprised by how indifferent he sounded about the entire ordeal.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

He must have slept through the whole awful ordeal with Tamika.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

However, Mr. Starritt keeps his leads center stage and ensures that throughout their professional trials and personal ordeals they remain captivating presences and sympathetic enough to root for.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

But, along with graphic descriptions of Fremlin’s predatory behavior, she explores how Munro, a frequent New Yorker contributor, mined both her own difficult childhood and her daughter’s ordeals in her fiction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

I never forgot how lucky I am to be here considering the horrors she experienced during World War II and her ordeals trying to give us a good life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

But five people living with the condition spoke to the BBC about their ordeals, which left them feeling like they were going mad or like monsters.

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026

It reminded the Friedmans of their ordeals with Fabyan, and they resolved never to get into such a situation again.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

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