1
as in inferno
a temporary place or state in which the souls of people who die make amends for their sins
It was a summer job that felt like purgatory to the teen.
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2
as in nightmare
a place or state of temporary suffering
We found ourselves trapped in the purgatory of a rush-hour traffic jam.
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Examples of purgatory in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Its power, instead, comes from the dissonance between the terrifying condition of waiting for answers and the flights of imagination that this purgatory, paradoxically, sustains.
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Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2024
Despite the historic nature of her election — as the nation’s first female, Black and Asian American vice president — Harris has spent most of her vice presidency in a combination of obscurity and political purgatory.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2024
This breathtaking novel starts with the death of President Lincoln's son, but from there, we're whisked away to Saunders' version of the bardo — the Tibetan Buddhist purgatory for souls in limbo — a magical, bizarre, hilarious, and sometimes frightening place.
—The Week Us, theweek, 23 July 2024
But where does that leave us, the poor souls stuck in a housing world that feels a lot like purgatory?
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for purgatory 
Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2024
Despite the historic nature of her election — as the nation’s first female, Black and Asian American vice president — Harris has spent most of her vice presidency in a combination of obscurity and political purgatory.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2024
This breathtaking novel starts with the death of President Lincoln's son, but from there, we're whisked away to Saunders' version of the bardo — the Tibetan Buddhist purgatory for souls in limbo — a magical, bizarre, hilarious, and sometimes frightening place.
—The Week Us, theweek, 23 July 2024
But where does that leave us, the poor souls stuck in a housing world that feels a lot like purgatory?
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for purgatory
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'purgatory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Purgatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purgatory. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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