nightmarish
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nightmarish
Explanation
Something nightmarish is truly horrifying, something that would show up in a bad dream. Your nightmarish day might start with a car accident on the way to school and end with a fight with your best friend. A chilling scream in the middle of the night is nightmarish, and traumatic experiences like an episode of bullying or nearly stumbling off the top of a cliff would also be nightmarish. You can also use this adjective to emphasize the unpleasantness of an experience in a slightly exaggerated way: "Ugh, that math test was absolutely nightmarish." Nightmarish things resemble nightmares, or terrifying dreams.
Vocabulary lists containing nightmarish
Rowan of Rin
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Novel Study: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chapters 12–20
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
The nightmarish run started when the war in Ukraine forced Nestlé to make adjustments, as key raw materials like fuel and wheat became more expensive.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
Two of Martel’s favorite movies set in L.A. are David Lynch’s nightmarish “Mulholland Drive” and Robert Aldrich’s psychodrama “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
The attempt went relatively smoothly, she explains, apart from a "nightmarish" section when cleaning a kid's playground at four in the morning where the game's bright primary colours affected her in "a very psychedelic way".
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
“The folkloric Euro-American story of the ‘headless horseman’ comes to mind — a nightmarish, animated corpse who haunts the living.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
She saw the nightmarish images she had seen before: the human-headed bull rising from the water, then the dark well-shaped room filling with black water as Jason, Percy, and she struggled to stay afloat.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
