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Synonyms

trials and tribulations

Idioms  

  1. Tests of one's patience or endurance, as in She went through all the trials and tribulations of being admitted to law school only to find she couldn't afford to go. This redundant expression— trial and tribulation here both mean the same thing—is also used semi-humorously, as in Do you really want to hear about the trials and tribulations of my day at the office?

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.

Lord Mandelson is apparently stung by Epstein's criticism and tells him in a reply "how much I appreciate your support," adding "during your trials and tribulations I never left your side, I was always there with advice and moral support, and I never turned away".

From BBC

“There was a lot of trials and tribulations. A lot of ups and downs,” Ferragamo said.

From Los Angeles Times

He gave voice to the hopes and fears, trials and tribulations, of ordinary Indians as well as the country's elite.

From BBC

But it wasn’t always easy to sympathize with his trials and tribulations in the most elite enclaves of Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

“No matter the trials and tribulations he faced in life, he was constant in his generosity and love for his family,” his children said in a press release.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.