as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
a photographic exhibit of nightmarish images from the wars of the 20th century
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 nightmarish
The decade was, of course, a nightmarish time to be gay.
—
Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026
Even the scenes in the endlessly maligned New York City (played at least partially by Fort Worth, Texas) look beautiful, undermining the nightmarish declarations of Sheridan’s scripts.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Mar. 2026
The winter wonderland turns nightmarish after a car explosion, which Beabadoobee walks through unbothered.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2026
Dean Puckett, United Kingdom, 2025 A single mother and her child are put through a nightmarish ordeal when a politician knocks on their door.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2026
The effect is of a dreamy — and sometimes nightmarish — memory, as Nakache is at different times a child, an Olympian, a husband and father, a prisoner at Auschwitz, and an old man nearing the end of his life.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Wenzler’s case has been particularly nightmarish because the hacker mocked him on social media.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 4 Mar. 2026
Until recently, this nightmarish scenario for Democrats seemed inconceivable.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
Three years ago, ‘Will Smith Eating Spaghetti’ was nightmarish fever-dream.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2026
Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026
Even the scenes in the endlessly maligned New York City (played at least partially by Fort Worth, Texas) look beautiful, undermining the nightmarish declarations of Sheridan’s scripts.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Mar. 2026
The winter wonderland turns nightmarish after a car explosion, which Beabadoobee walks through unbothered.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2026
Dean Puckett, United Kingdom, 2025 A single mother and her child are put through a nightmarish ordeal when a politician knocks on their door.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2026
The effect is of a dreamy — and sometimes nightmarish — memory, as Nakache is at different times a child, an Olympian, a husband and father, a prisoner at Auschwitz, and an old man nearing the end of his life.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Wenzler’s case has been particularly nightmarish because the hacker mocked him on social media.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 4 Mar. 2026
Until recently, this nightmarish scenario for Democrats seemed inconceivable.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
Three years ago, ‘Will Smith Eating Spaghetti’ was nightmarish fever-dream.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nightmarish
Adjective
-
After a meeting with one of them goes horribly wrong, Devlin and her publicist Sylvie, another a victim of Hollywood’s censure, find revenge offers a unique albeit gruesome ingredient for Glob’s products.—
Paula L. Woods,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Detective Alex Cross and FBI Agent Kayla Craig (Tal) led a new joint mission to protect Durand and find the killer, who left behind gruesome clues.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Over Your Dead Body is not for the faint of heart, but give or take a rape threat that crosses the line into smug sadism without quite seeming to realize it, the violence lands as more comically cartoonish than horrific.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The series is about the horrific shock of unexpected sorrow, how death can divide families (or bring people together) and how navigating pain can alter perspectives and paths forward.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But the 22-year-old is not alone in having a nightmare individual performance on a high-profile sporting stage.—
Eduardo Tansley,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
-
This is the nightmare scenario for California Democrats.—
Tom Charron,
Mercury News,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The season cancellation on March 19 comes after TMZ published a shocking video showing the 2023 violent altercation with Paul, seen yelling, hitting, kicking and throwing furniture at Mortensen while a child is heard crying.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
21 Mar. 2026
-
Garcia said the shocking allegations became public at a time when many Mexican Americans are seeing immigration arrests ripping families apart, people afraid to leave their homes, immigrants in prolonged detention and some dying in immigration custody.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Arsenal, like Chelsea and City, have that horrible Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday schedule to contend with.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
13 Mar. 2026
-
At this point, however, this news is neither insignificant nor horrible.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Even if the football this summer is terrible, plenty of the teams are going to look great.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
20 Mar. 2026
-
In the 1970s-1980s, all the agricultural talk in the Mississippi Delta was whether the boll weevil would be terrible or just awful this coming fall.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
While any leukemia diagnosis is frightening, the prognosis for hairy cell leukemia is generally excellent with treatment, Tsarwhas, the LFH oncology director, noted.—
Daniel I. Dorfman,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The risk of crew loss during the Apollo moon missions was a rather frightening 1 in 10, according to the OIG report.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
These shots mostly come in the form of horrifying faces or masks that momentarily peek through the darkness.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Mainly focused on Evy (Nina Kiri), a skeptic caring for her ailing mother, Undertone features atmospheric, creepy sound design as Evy obsessively works to decipher the audio to horrifying results.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nightmarish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nightmarish. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
