ordeal
Americannoun
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any extremely severe or trying test, experience, or trial.
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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.
noun
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a severe or trying experience
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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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ordeal
List 4
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Tuck Everlasting
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The complex and time-consuming ordeal has even spawned a cottage industry of consultants to help people navigate it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
Ultimately, the crew resat him elsewhere, but the ordeal took some time.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Meatloaf’s ordeal highlights a broader issue facing marine wildlife along the Southern California coast.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Jodie said the harassment was distressing, but it was the police process that made her ordeal worse.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
But after their ordeal in the back of the evacuation truck, their relationship changed, although neither of them was exactly sure how to define it.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
