ordeal

/ɔːˈdiːl/ (bre, ipa) · /ɔːrˈdiːl/ (ame, ipa) · /ȯr-ˈdē(-ə)l ˈȯr-ˌdē(-ə)l/ (ame, mw)

ordeal — noun

  • ordealsingular
  • ordealsplural

1. a period of severe suffering or difficulty that is exhausting to live through

1.名詞C1
釋義

a period of severe suffering or difficulty that is exhausting to live through

例句

Camila described the week without electricity as a complete ordeal.

describe something as an ordeal

Getting emergency passports for the children became a long ordeal.

同義詞
  • trial

    can also mean a difficult experience, but is slightly broader and less emotionally intense

  • hardship

    often refers to continuing difficult living conditions rather than one experience you go through

  • nightmare

    more informal and often stresses frustration or chaos rather than suffering

文法句型

go through an ordeal

ordeal of + noun/doing something

用法筆記

Often used for something much more serious than an ordinary problem or inconvenience. It commonly appears in phrases such as 'go through an ordeal' when someone is forced to endure a long, painful situation.

常見錯誤

❌Waiting two extra minutes for coffee was an ordeal.
✅Waiting two extra minutes for coffee was annoying.
💡Ordeal is usually reserved for something much more painful or difficult.

2. a former way of judging an accused person by putting them through a painful or d

2.名詞C2
釋義

a former way of judging an accused person by putting them through a painful or dangerous test and reading the result as God's judgment

例句

In the village square, an ordeal decided whether the man was guilty.

historical legal use

The priest ordered the accused woman to face an ordeal in the river.

subject someone to an ordeal

同義詞
  • trial

    the general word for a court process; it does not imply a painful physical test

  • test

    a broad everyday word that lacks the legal and religious meaning of this historical sense

文法句型

subject someone to an ordeal

ordeal by + noun

用法筆記

This sense belongs to older legal and religious history, not to modern courts. It often appears in set phrases such as 'ordeal by fire' or 'ordeal by water'.

常見錯誤

❌The judge used an ordeal to decide the case last year.
✅The judge used a trial to decide the case last year.
💡This historical sense refers to an old system, not modern legal procedure.