MEANING
1. In Catholic teaching, a state of purification after death before entry into heaven.
2. A prolonged painful or frustrating ordeal, often felt as an intermediate condition with a possible end.
Use it for
Prayer for the dead, religious uncertainty, exhausting intermediate states.Express suspended suffering while preserving the doctrinal distinction from hell.
Words that belong together
- souls in purgatory
- years of purgatory
- a private purgatory
On the page
The family funded prayers for souls in purgatory.
Waiting for the inquest became a private purgatory.
She challenged his claim that the dead woman's suffering in purgatory was certain.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- purgatory
Usage notes
Primary category: gothic. Not the same as hell or eternal damnation; the figurative sense implies suffering with a possible end. Usually uncountable; plural purgatories for figurative ordeals.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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