as in ordeals
a test of faith, patience, or strength
soldiers who had withstood the crucible of war
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Recent Examples of crucibles
At the time, there was a chance of that being Neuer’s final appearance in one of sport’s great crucibles, and players of his calibre deserve better endings.
—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Crises’ crucibles often forge potent alliances.
—Jamie Holmes, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
At its best, Extra Geography is a wistful look at the crucibles of young adulthood, at two people forming and re-forming into shapes that may no longer be compatible with one another.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
Crises’ crucibles often forge potent alliances.
—Jamie Holmes, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
At its best, Extra Geography is a wistful look at the crucibles of young adulthood, at two people forming and re-forming into shapes that may no longer be compatible with one another.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crucibles
Noun
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Can Arsenal survive four more ordeals?—
Matt Slater,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
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Others have also turned their personal ordeals into stories of inspiration.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The video pans to an airstream on his Pacific Palisades property, which was destroyed by the devastating LA fires early last year.—
Janelle Ash,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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Every edit, regeneration, and follow-up question a worker fires into a frontier model is training data, aggregated across hundreds of millions of users and tens of billions of conversations.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Post-punk bands face few gauntlets as arduous as the slow song, and Landowner challenge themselves to traverse three of them.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
24 Mar. 2026
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Those odds proved to be correct, as One Battle and Sinners added the final jewels to their respective gauntlets en route to this Sunday’s Academy Awards.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Katherine Jackson was always seen as the person there supporting him through those trials.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
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These advancements will prepare the three ports for green fuel trials in the next phase of their partnership.—
Jennifer Bringle,
Footwear News,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Crucibles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crucibles. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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