as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
a photographic exhibit of nightmarish images from the wars of the 20th century
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmarish
Adjective
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The zombies are terrifying, and every situation our heroes find themselves in is a horrific, life-or-death struggle.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025 -
Some people find vampires horrific, while others have trepidation about young Black artists dancing for boardrooms of white record executives.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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For some, watching the film might seem like a gruesome voyeuristic act, even if the scene in question is not a part of the final cut.—
Jane Onyanga-Omara,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
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David Carpenter was sentenced to death in 1984 for the murders of more than half a dozen people along Northern California hiking trails between 1979 and 1981, a gruesome spree that earned him the nickname Trailside Killer.—
Hannah Wiley,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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The size of his collection is shocking: A Long Beach resident is using social media to chronicle his mission to amass the world’s largest VHS collection of the 1999 film starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.—
Tracy Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2025
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May 5, 2025: Leo attends his first Met Gala (which is kind of shocking in and of itself) alongside Ceretti, who made her Met Gala debut in 2021.—
Glamour,
Glamour,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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Big, wonderful, funny, horrible, strange, sad, great life.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 May 2025
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One of our group hunted it on a rainy afternoon — traditionally a horrible time to bag a bird — and killed a 3-year-old tom. —A.M. Don’t Become Overly Reliant on Your Cameras Cameras aren’t magic.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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Transgender kids, especially under the current president, are facing terrible rights losses and bigotry.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 May 2025
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Such legislation is meant to destabilize Pakistan’s internal politics, which is in no one’s interests, except those who promoted such a terrible idea in the first place.—
Christopher Shays,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2025
Adjective
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These frightening and repulsive actions represent the most significant breach on our Capitol in over two hundred years.—
Sonam Sheth
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 May 2025
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Mellencamp's frightening diagnosis, though, hasn't stopped her resolve.—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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To cut yourself off from people is to lose your connection and way in a glorious, terrifying world.—
Mary Frances Ruskell,
CNN Money,
2 May 2025
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Audio and video deepfakes created with generative AI tools add a new, terrifying wrinkle to scam spotting.—
Kim Key,
PC Magazine,
1 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Nightmarish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmarish. Accessed 14 May. 2025.
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