noun
- a very unpleasant and prolonged experience
- an ancient method of trial in which the accused was subjected to dangerous or painful tests believed to reveal divine judgment
Usage: historical
Examples
- The job interview was a real ordeal for the nervous candidate.
- After three hours in the dentist’s chair, the procedure felt like an ordeal.
- She described her divorce as a painful ordeal that lasted two years.
- The hikers survived the ordeal of being lost in the mountains for five days.
- Moving to a new country can be quite an ordeal for many families.
- In medieval times, trial by ordeal involved tests like walking on hot coals.
- The final exam was such an ordeal that many students were exhausted afterward.