nightmare
A very unpleasant or frightening dream.
Noun 2 meanings
A very unpleasant or frightening dream.
“I had a nightmare that I tried to run but could neither move nor breathe.”
Any bad, miserable, difficult or terrifying situation or experience that arouses anxiety, terror, agony or great displeasure.
“Cleaning up after identity theft can be a nightmare of phone calls and letters.”
Verb 3 meanings
To experience a nightmare.
To imagine (someone or something) as in a nightmare.
To trouble (someone or something), as by a nightmare.
Etymology
From Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr.
Similar and opposite words
NIGHTMARE at a glance
NIGHTMARE has 9 letters and scores 15 points in Scrabble (N 1 + I 1 + G 2 + H 4 + T 1 + M 3 + A 1 + R 1 + E 1) and 17 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #5,147 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with nightmare
All rhymesOne letter away
- NIGHTMARY18
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