Tribulationserious suffering or difficulty that causes distress refers to serious trouble, hardshipa condition of great difficulty or unpleasantness, or a difficult event that causes distressa feeling of worry, pain, or emotional suffering. It is often used in plural form to talk about the problems and sufferings people face in life.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /ˌtrɪbjəˈleɪʃən/
Easy pronunciation: tri-byuh-LAY-shun (approximate spelling).
Stress: Primary stress is on LAY; secondary stress is on the first syllable.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Tribulation Meaning
a hard or painful problem
Part of speech: noun
Definition: a serious hardship or difficult event that causes trouble or distress
Example: She faced many tribulations during the move.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- trial — Works as a close synonym when tribulation means a hardship or difficult experience.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Tribulation
Meaning 2
a very bad event or setback
Part of speech: noun
Definition: an annoying, frustrating, or catastrophic event
Example: The storm was a tribulation for the entire town.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- visitation — Can fit in older or formal usage for an affliction or troublesome event, but it is less common in everyday English.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Tribulation Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- trial
a serious hardship or difficult event that causes trouble or distress
- trial
an annoying, frustrating, or catastrophic event
- visitation
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- People sometimes use tribulation to mean any ordinary annoyance, but it usually suggests a more serious difficulty or suffering.
- It is often used in the plural, tribulations, when talking about repeated problems or hardships.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does tribulation mean in simple English?
It means a hard, painful, or distressing problem or experience.
Is tribulation usually singular or plural?
Both are possible, but tribulations is very common when talking about life’s problems.
What are the best synonyms for tribulation?
Trial is the closest common synonym. Depending on the context, hardship and adversity are also good paraphrases, though they were not in the supplied source data.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-26. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.