Ordeal: meaning, definitions and examples

An extremely unpleasant and difficult experience that tests a person's endurance, often used in a more dramatic sense.

• The hikers went through a horrendous ordeal when they got lost in the mountains
• Her surgery was a painful ordeal

A difficult situation that tests someone's patience or endurance, can be used to describe legal matters and personal challenges.

• Raising a teenager can be quite a trial for many parents
• The long commute was a daily trial for her

Great trouble or suffering, usually used in a more literary or old-fashioned context, often implying a series of difficulties.

• The hero faced many tribulations on his journey
• Despite the tribulations of her youth, she became a successful writer

A condition of severe suffering, usually related to financial, physical, or living conditions, and it doesn't necessarily have to be as dramatic or intense as an 'ordeal'.

• Living in poverty presents many hardships
• The journey was filled with hardship, including bad weather and rough terrain

The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship, often referring to emotional or physical pain, sometimes on a prolonged basis.

• The war caused widespread suffering among the civilian population
• She endured years of suffering due to her illness