purgatory

Definitions

From pūrgāre ("to cleanse") + -ory ("place where") = "the place of cleansing." In Catholic theology, souls are purged of remaining sin there by suffering before they're allowed into heaven. The everyday sense grew right out of that image: any drawn-out, painful in-between state.

Why It Means This

Purgatory literally means "the place of purging" — souls being cleaned of sin by fire. That single religious image gave English its modern figurative use: when you call a long, miserable wait "purgatory," you're picturing yourself stuck in a painful limbo, enduring discomfort before you're finally released. The casual meaning kept the feeling of the theology but dropped the doctrine.

Common Collocations

• 1.souls in purgatory炼狱中的灵魂
• 2.like purgatory如同炼狱
• 3.sheer purgatory纯粹的煎熬
• 4.a kind of purgatory一种煎熬

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Catholics traditionally pray for the souls waiting in purgatory.

• 2.

  The eight-hour layover at the airport was sheer purgatory.

• 3.

  Living between two jobs felt like a kind of purgatory.