Synonyms

nightmarish

American

[nahyt-mair-ish] / ˈnaɪtˌmɛər ɪʃ /

adjective

resembling a nightmare, especially in being terrifying, exasperating, or the like.

his nightmarish experience in a concentration camp.

Other Word Forms

nightmarishly adverb
nightmarishness noun

Etymology

Origin of nightmarish

First recorded in 1825–35; nightmare + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“And then I went through the whole nightmarish process of getting the data.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Mills is nightmarishly representative of the tired, failed politics that have made the Democratic party so unpopular, even as it’s the only viable alternative to the rising fascism of the GOP.

From Salon

Her nightmarish laugh, gravity-defying hairdo and ferocious temper were part of a carefully constructed character that ranks as a comic masterpiece.

From BBC

A Dodgers team that had given up five total runs in its previous five games, had suddenly yielded seven in one nightmarish inning.

From Los Angeles Times

Painting a nightmarish vision of what he claimed life would be like under a Farage government, he sought to portray the Lib Dems as the guardians of British values of "tolerance, decency, and respect".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023