ordeal
Syllables: or·deal/ɔːˈdiːl/US/ɔɹˈdil/
ordeal noun: a trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.
Noun
ordeal (plural ordeals)
- A trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.
- trial by ordeal
- A painful or trying experience.
- “And do you realize that in a few shakes I've got to show up at dinner and have Mrs Cream being very, very kind to me? It hurts the pride of the Woosters, Jeeves.” “My advice, sir, would be to fortify yourself for the ordeal.” “How?” “There are always cocktails, sir. Should I pour you another?”...1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XXI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC
- All the same, nearly eight hours on the footplate covering a distance of 320 miles, with an ambient temperature of up to 103° for much of the time, proved an ordeal which I would not lightly undertake again.1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 611
- Synonyms:
- calvary, torment, tribulation
- The poisonous ordeal bean or Calabar bean.
ordeal meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
ordeal in Tamil
- கடுமையான சோதனை, துன்பம், துன்பமயம், துயரம், படுதுயரம், நெடுந்துயரம்
ordeal in Urdu
- آزمایش, ابتلا, امتحان شدید
ordeal in Bengali
- অত্যন্ত কঠিন, যন্ত্রণাদায়ক অভিজ্ঞতা
ordeal in Malayalam
- അഗ്നിപരീക്ഷ, കഠിനപരീക്ഷണം, ആപത്ത്
More languagesFewer languages
- ordeal in Kannada
- ಕಿಚ್ಚೊರೆತ, ತೊಡಕಿನ ಒರೆತ, ಕಟ್ಟೊರೆತ, ಅಗ್ನಿಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ
- ordeal in Punjabi
- ਪਰੀਖਿਆ parīkhiā
- ordeal in Sanskrit
- शपथ śapátha, दिव्य divyá, समय samayá, प्रत्यय pratyaya
- ordeal in Arabic
- اِمْتِحَان imtiḥān, تَجْرُبَة tajruba, مِحْنَة miḥna
- ordeal in Persian
- مصیبت mosibat, گرفتاری gereftâri
Examples of ordeal in a sentence
- The details of the ordeal can be distressing to some readers.
- She bore herself well throughout the ordeal.
- The ordeal was a test of everyone’s fibre.
Synonyms of ordeal
Forms of ordeal
| plural | ordeals |
|---|
Origin of ordeal
From Middle English ordel, ordal, from Medieval Latin ordālium or inherited from its source Old English ordēl, ordāl (“ordeal, judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀdailī (“judgement”, literally “an out-dealing”), from *uʀdailijan (“to deal out; dispense”). For more, see Old English or-, English deal. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Uurdeel (“judgement; verdict”), West Frisian oardiel (“judgement”), Dutch oordeel (“judgement, discretion”), Low German Oordeel (“judgement; verdict”), German Urteil (“judgement, verdict”).
Words formed from ordeal
Phrases with ordeal
Words that rhyme with ordeal
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- keel
- anneal
- creel
- peal
- peel
- sweal
- congeal
- Izmail
- kneel
- meal
- Neale
- streal
- weal
- awheel
- Castile
- cochineal
- feal
- heal
- Lille
- repeal
- sele
- squeal
- teal
- zeal
- ceil
- debile
- dishabille
- hele
- leal
- lifesteal
- Neil
- Niel
- O'Neill
- reveal
- schlemiel
- seel
- she'll
- shiel
- skeel
- spiel
- square meal
- unseal
- veal
- we'll
- weel
- ye'll
- -meal
- allele
Questions about ordeal
- What does ordeal mean?
- Ordeal means a trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused.
- What is ordeal in Tamil?
- Ordeal in Tamil is கடுமையான சோதனை, துன்பம், துன்பமயம். See Ordeal meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ordeal?
- Ordeal is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ordeal?
- Ordeal is pronounced /ɔːˈdiːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of ordeal?
- The plural of ordeal is ordeals.
Words near ordeal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ordeal (page history and authors); ordeal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordeal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordeal (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordeal (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordeal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਪਰੀਖਿਆ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); दिव्य (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ordeal.wav.
Cite this entry: “ordeal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ordeal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.