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
The filmmaker also resorts to that overused crutch of horror movies by which horrific events are revealed to be nightmares.
—
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 19 Feb. 2026
Audre Lorde kept track of her nightmares and talked about going from the nightmare to the poem.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Ilia Malinin’s collapse underscores the crushing psychological pressure of Olympic competition, which can turn childhood dreams into nightmares, even for elite athletes.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2026
Most of them are oddly charged, dramatically staged images meant to evoke dreams, nightmares, or fantasies.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
But nothing could have prepared viewers for the movie's ending, as an unfinished screenplay became the stuff of nightmares — literally and figuratively.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 8 Feb. 2026
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is often portrayed in popular media as subjects experiencing hypervigilance, flashbacks, and nightmares.
—Eva Cornman, Hartford Courant, 5 Feb. 2026
Shortly after, the book began to take shape, with new elements often arriving in vivid daydreams and eerie nightmares.
—Charlie Vargas, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026
Dreams of an efficient return to Denver became nightmares.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 30 Jan. 2026
Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 19 Feb. 2026
Audre Lorde kept track of her nightmares and talked about going from the nightmare to the poem.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Ilia Malinin’s collapse underscores the crushing psychological pressure of Olympic competition, which can turn childhood dreams into nightmares, even for elite athletes.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2026
Most of them are oddly charged, dramatically staged images meant to evoke dreams, nightmares, or fantasies.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
But nothing could have prepared viewers for the movie's ending, as an unfinished screenplay became the stuff of nightmares — literally and figuratively.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 8 Feb. 2026
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is often portrayed in popular media as subjects experiencing hypervigilance, flashbacks, and nightmares.
—Eva Cornman, Hartford Courant, 5 Feb. 2026
Shortly after, the book began to take shape, with new elements often arriving in vivid daydreams and eerie nightmares.
—Charlie Vargas, Oc Register, 30 Jan. 2026
Dreams of an efficient return to Denver became nightmares.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmares
Noun
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On the surface, at least, the glitzy Russian capital, with its shops and cafes and traffic jams, is well-insulated against the horrors of the frontlines, save the occasional interception of Ukrainian drones, about which few Muscovites, frankly, spare a passing thought.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
21 Feb. 2026
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Why, Newman wrote, would Julian choose to give the world reason to doubt that the horrors unfolding in Europe were actually happening?—
Nicholas Lemann,
New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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This week’s massive winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow on at least 19 states, including those like Texas and Tennessee that are less prepared to deal with the miseries of winter weather.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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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
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 28 Feb. 2026.
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