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purgatory

[pur-guh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈpɜr gəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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They feel like suburban purgatory, liminal implying a state in between reality and dream.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 6, 2026

For now, counties like Hood remain stuck in purgatory, watching rapid development overwhelm their communities while waiting for state policy to catch up.

From Salon Jun. 6, 2026

Helima Croft: We are in a cease-fire-with-no-oil purgatory.

From Barron's May 15, 2026

Alonso's career, meanwhile, became a kind of living purgatory.

From BBC Feb. 24, 2026

Yes, Jupiter and I being in this freakish friendship purgatory is more or less my fault.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

He could ask Washingtonians and Puerto Ricans for forgiveness over not righting their untenable political purgatories.

From Slate Jul. 22, 2024

Like a rich novel, “About Dry Grasses” takes its time fleshing out its central players, who are each grappling with their own metaphorical purgatories.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 22, 2024

Treasury officials, who are trying to brace the public for refund delays, service disruptions, interminable telephone-hold purgatories and other unpleasantries that taxpayers will face over the next few months.

From Washington Post Jan. 13, 2022

It was a modest success, yet Ms. Wyatt spent the next several years mired in various record-label purgatories, a moist, bright voice lost to time.

From New York Times Jun. 24, 2011

These lakes served more efficiently as "purgatories," than the artificial basin of Caligula, nine miles below.

From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 7 Italy, Sicily, and Greece (Part One) by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)




Vocabulary lists containing purgatory


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