as in horrors
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
that 20-page exam was a nightmare
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of nightmares
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
The scenes are the stuff of nightmares, and even villainy.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
The strength that the NFL is enjoying this year is in sharp contrast to the string of PR nightmares that the league faced not so long ago.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
His nightmares began almost immediately.
—Nichole Manna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Jan. 2026
Rather, thousands of small pieces of junk that are still big enough to disrupt a satellite’s operations are what satellite operators have nightmares about these days.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
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
The scenes are the stuff of nightmares, and even villainy.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
The strength that the NFL is enjoying this year is in sharp contrast to the string of PR nightmares that the league faced not so long ago.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
His nightmares began almost immediately.
—Nichole Manna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Jan. 2026
Rather, thousands of small pieces of junk that are still big enough to disrupt a satellite’s operations are what satellite operators have nightmares about these days.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmares
Noun
-
And yet, in today’s topical songs by legacy rock artists, such elements don’t heighten the immediacy of the day’s horrors but, rather, run them through a sepia-toned filter.—
Mitch Therieau,
New Yorker,
7 Feb. 2026
-
In Silo, references to a toxic world imply that half a million people were sent underground to protect them from the horrors of a nuclear holocaust.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
7 Feb. 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
-
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nightmares.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmares. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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