as in ordeals
a negative event or circumstance that is common to a particular setting or situation and is usually beyond one's control
The vicissitudes of medical school proved too much for the anxious student.
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Recent Examples of vicissitudes
Renaissance has prided itself on a debt-free history, despite the vicissitudes of performing arts fundraising.
—
Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Mere knick-knacks, which have all disappeared with the vicissitudes of years.
—Adam Verner
september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
But Hynes details life’s vicissitudes with poetic exactitude.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 24 Sep. 2025
Mere knick-knacks, which have all disappeared with the vicissitudes of years.
—Adam Verner
september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
But Hynes details life’s vicissitudes with poetic exactitude.
—Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vicissitudes
Noun
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In today’s housing market, even the lucky ones often face exhausting ordeals and need to stretch their budgets to land a home.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
21 Oct. 2025
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Kruse and Fialko invested seven figures into rebuilding Priscilla’s brand, stabilizing her finances, settling her lawsuits, cleaning up numerous private family ordeals, and attempting to help Priscilla repair her relationship with her daughter.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Is the Hockomock League one of the toughest gauntlets in Massachusetts again?—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Mistakes, misfortunes, even tragedy, toxic secrets from the past—anything can happen, or may have happened.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Oct. 2025
-
According to local belief, sending a lantern upward helps cleanse a person’s spirit and eases their misfortunes, clearing the path for good luck in the coming year.—
Sarah Buder,
AFAR Media,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
At home, Takaichi faces her own challenges.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
27 Oct. 2025
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One-time pioneer, new challenges American Airlines was an industry leader for decades.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The troubles began in 2020 when the banner was stolen during the day by an individual who ran up the hill with it, according to Haynes.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
22 Oct. 2025
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There were struggles, the same type of troubles many other bands have, but people took care of one another, and everybody’s there.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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At seventy, Padura is a voice of a generation that endured a long war in Angola and the privations that followed the Soviet collapse.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
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Since 2022, Russia repeatedly urged China to act quickly to save its economy from inevitable privations stemming from the collapse of its Western market.—
Ariel Cohen,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vicissitudes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vicissitudes. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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