as in horrors
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
that 20-page exam was a nightmare
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nightmares
The warrant stated that one of the children has been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety, and has also reported having nightmares about Busfield touching him.
—
Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Jan. 2026
Jay Cutler is probably still having nightmares about it.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Eight years later, the show isn’t making viewers nostalgic or giving them nightmares.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 26 Dec. 2025
The students allegedly experienced sleep issues, nightmares and were scared of returning to school due to the possibility of being in that room.
—David Chiu, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
One study even found that individuals with no prior trauma who watched distressing news reports showed symptoms of secondary traumatic stress, such as anxiety, nightmares, and feelings of helplessness.
—Kriti Gupta, Refinery29, 17 Dec. 2025
Their 1995 album has the rickety punk sound of suburban nightmares, jagged landslides of noise for vanquishing all the dread, real and imagined, just outside their windows.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
Tri-Star Pictures took heat for casting Santa Claus as a spree killer suffering from PTSD, and across the country, parents complained that the movie’s widespread marketing campaign was giving kids nightmares.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Dec. 2025
Ghana, Panama and Norway are talented teams with respectable world rankings that could give their groups nightmares and push a hopeful side out of the knockout stages.
—Lucia I Suarez Sang, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Jan. 2026
Jay Cutler is probably still having nightmares about it.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Eight years later, the show isn’t making viewers nostalgic or giving them nightmares.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 26 Dec. 2025
The students allegedly experienced sleep issues, nightmares and were scared of returning to school due to the possibility of being in that room.
—David Chiu, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
One study even found that individuals with no prior trauma who watched distressing news reports showed symptoms of secondary traumatic stress, such as anxiety, nightmares, and feelings of helplessness.
—Kriti Gupta, Refinery29, 17 Dec. 2025
Their 1995 album has the rickety punk sound of suburban nightmares, jagged landslides of noise for vanquishing all the dread, real and imagined, just outside their windows.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
Tri-Star Pictures took heat for casting Santa Claus as a spree killer suffering from PTSD, and across the country, parents complained that the movie’s widespread marketing campaign was giving kids nightmares.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Dec. 2025
Ghana, Panama and Norway are talented teams with respectable world rankings that could give their groups nightmares and push a hopeful side out of the knockout stages.
—Lucia I Suarez Sang, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmares
Noun
-
In simple, straightforward prose, Chang describes in new detail the horrors her parents suffered through during China's Cultural Revolution.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
13 Jan. 2026
-
The horrors of the 1988 chapter open the door for a plot development that risks coming across as manipulative.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
This is a childhood that had all its ordinariness burned out of it by the linking of even seemingly trivial gestures (an offering of candy, a bath, a swim, the dust in a corner of a room) to an entire array of physical and mental agonies.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The victims of prejudice and inequality are always the best guardians of the ramparts that sustain those miseries.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
23 Nov. 2025
-
Falling support in Gaza Palestinian public pressure on Hamas has risen as the miseries of war have mounted.—
Mkhaimar Abusada,
The Conversation,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The author delves into the torments PTSD causes Vietnam veterans as well as family dynamics.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
21 Dec. 2025
-
Hell is nevertheless filled with bloody and horrific torments.—
Claudia Roth Pierpont,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nightmares.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmares. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
