as in horrors
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
that 20-page exam was a nightmare
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of nightmares
Andy Pages doubled off Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering – a matchup straight out of Philadelphia’s nightmares – and scored on Mookie Betts’ third hit of the night, a single to right field.
—
Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 31 May 2026
Production designer Danny Vermette created these escape rooms, which align to the dark spirit of director Jonathan Glazer, Tod Browning and, of course, Lynch and Stephen King, the landscape of purgatory-like nightmares.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
Pineda’s arrest also caused recurring nightmares that leave him shouting and thrashing around in bed.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2026
Both courses had diabolical pin placements that turned into absolute nightmares.
—Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
But the second period was the stuff of nightmares.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 25 May 2026
The more stress people carried into bed, the more their nightmares tracked with disrupted sleep.
—Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2026
Bridges had nightmares about that coffin.
—Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
But those nightmares seemed remote from the verdant and prosperous cul-de-sac in northern Toronto that led to the door of Temple Emanu-el.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 31 May 2026
Production designer Danny Vermette created these escape rooms, which align to the dark spirit of director Jonathan Glazer, Tod Browning and, of course, Lynch and Stephen King, the landscape of purgatory-like nightmares.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
Pineda’s arrest also caused recurring nightmares that leave him shouting and thrashing around in bed.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2026
Both courses had diabolical pin placements that turned into absolute nightmares.
—Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
But the second period was the stuff of nightmares.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 25 May 2026
The more stress people carried into bed, the more their nightmares tracked with disrupted sleep.
—Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2026
Bridges had nightmares about that coffin.
—Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
But those nightmares seemed remote from the verdant and prosperous cul-de-sac in northern Toronto that led to the door of Temple Emanu-el.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmares
Noun
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Upon entering, the pair discover the horrors of bloody intestines, fingernails and a human heart boiling on the stove.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
28 May 2026
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Their childhood, for all its horrors, felt at times like the easy part.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Noun
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Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
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The agonies of the day were only intermittently audible in the music on offer in Witten.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Noun
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The bleak tortures Ohm concocts for his characters are as vile as the Bilberry’s fetid jacuzzi.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
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But such judgments often come from a place of distance—from people who have never lived under a theocracy that imprisons, tortures, and kills with impunity.—
Nazanin Boniadi,
Time,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The sad thing is that the miseries return, but there is no other Garrincha available.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
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The parallels between Ines’ dilemma and that of a nation being asked to lick its wounds in silence — in the name of moving on from past miseries — are present but elusive.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
14 May 2026
Noun
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So too did Trump spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain, who compared the president’s torments to those of Jesus.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
17 Apr. 2026
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In the face of such grave concerns, Alyoshka’s torments seem self-indulgent and frustrating, but his problem—whether to leave or stay—is far from insignificant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nightmares.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmares. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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