MEANING
1. A severely difficult or distressing experience that tests endurance.
2. A historical ritual test, such as exposure to fire or water, thought to reveal divine judgment about guilt or innocence.
Use it for
testing endurance; ritual judgment; difficult initiationsMake a trial costly while distinguishing its claimed meaning from its real effects.
Words that belong together
- ordeal by fire
- survive an ordeal
- undergo an ordeal
On the page
The ordeal left him unable to hold a cup.
She refused the ordeal by fire and demanded witnesses instead.
Their ordeal in the pass taught them nothing the king had intended.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- ordeal
Usage notes
Primary category: fantasy. Modern ordeal need not be ceremonial. Historical judicial trials by fire or water are a specific sense, not reliable proof of guilt. Noun: ordeal; plural ordeals.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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