as in horrors
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
that 20-page exam was a nightmare
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Recent Examples of nightmares
Nations can’t just blink away the nightmares of authoritarianism or assume that removing a strongman will resolve the societal conditions that led to his rise.
—
Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Ragusa’s paintings explore opulence, yet evoke a kind of existential angst, while Brown’s work reclaims the symbols that haunt our nightmares, turning fear into empowerment.
—Anya Sesay, jsonline.com, 13 Mar. 2026
Originally performed as part of ‘The Shape of the Night’, a full-length immersive experience exploring the world of dreams and nightmares created by Overlook veteran group All Of Them Witches (AOTW).
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2026
Amazon Mesh Wi-Fi System Deal Say goodbye to dropped video calls and buffering nightmares with the Eero 6+ Mesh System.
—Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 11 Mar. 2026
In-lab sleep tests can identify the cause of abnormal behaviors that happen while someone is sleeping like recurrent nightmares, sleepwalking and more.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 10 Mar. 2026
Months earlier, the county passed a slew of land-use changes that vastly expanded suburban sprawl in southwest Broward, creating traffic nightmares that remain today.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 9 Mar. 2026
Then have several weeks’ worth of nightmares.
—Ramon Ramirez, Austin American Statesman, 8 Mar. 2026
Kayce’s days are spent wrangling horses, and his evenings being haunted by nightmares of tragedies past.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026
Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Ragusa’s paintings explore opulence, yet evoke a kind of existential angst, while Brown’s work reclaims the symbols that haunt our nightmares, turning fear into empowerment.
—Anya Sesay, jsonline.com, 13 Mar. 2026
Originally performed as part of ‘The Shape of the Night’, a full-length immersive experience exploring the world of dreams and nightmares created by Overlook veteran group All Of Them Witches (AOTW).
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2026
Amazon Mesh Wi-Fi System Deal Say goodbye to dropped video calls and buffering nightmares with the Eero 6+ Mesh System.
—Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 11 Mar. 2026
In-lab sleep tests can identify the cause of abnormal behaviors that happen while someone is sleeping like recurrent nightmares, sleepwalking and more.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 10 Mar. 2026
Months earlier, the county passed a slew of land-use changes that vastly expanded suburban sprawl in southwest Broward, creating traffic nightmares that remain today.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 9 Mar. 2026
Then have several weeks’ worth of nightmares.
—Ramon Ramirez, Austin American Statesman, 8 Mar. 2026
Kayce’s days are spent wrangling horses, and his evenings being haunted by nightmares of tragedies past.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmares
Noun
-
Twain condemned these horrors with his characteristic mixture of outrage and wit.—
Jonathan Zimmerman,
New York Daily News,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Now after four years of ongoing horrors in Ukraine, and more than two years of watching slaughter and suffering in Gaza, the latest war filling our feeds is just another numbing form of content, a digital arena in which competing forces try to assert conflicting viewpoints.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Hadi’s exceptional attention gives cinematic identity to collective artisanal energy, to the life force of care and devotion that stands outside the agonies of politics, to the spirit that endures a regime and outlives it.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In that final part of the cycle—the writing part—were torments, perhaps even tortures, but good things happened.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
And allergy miseries don’t end after the spring.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
11 Mar. 2026
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Dengler endured endless torture and other miseries — escaping from prison was just the beginning of his ordeal in the jungle — but Bale plays him as a determined optimist, an indomitable spirit that cannot be crushed.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In that final part of the cycle—the writing part—were torments, perhaps even tortures, but good things happened.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
-
As a poet, publisher, and public intellectual, Ferlinghetti spent the rest of his career resisting the very torments Judge Horn said haunted the post-war world.—
Gioia Woods,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nightmares.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmares. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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