Did you know?
Looking at nightmare, you might guess that it is a compound formed from night and mare. If so, your guess is correct. But while the night in nightmare makes sense, the mare part is less obvious. Most English speakers know mare as a word for a female horse or similar equine animal, but the mare of nightmare is a different word, an obsolete one referring to an evil spirit that was once thought to produce feelings of suffocation in people while they slept. By the 14th century the mare was also known as nightmare, and by the late 16th century nightmare was also being applied to the feelings of distress caused by the spirit, and then to frightening or unpleasant dreams.
Synonyms
Examples of nightmare in a Sentence
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
There, Cleo, a thirteen-year-old girl, will face a horrible nightmare when her younger brother Martín is devoured by one of the native beasts.
—Jamie Lang, Variety, 23 Apr. 2024
If sports leagues are not careful, the sports betting industry’s dream can quickly turn into a nightmare for pro sports.
—Will Johnson, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2024
Diagrams showed that the rats’ brains were being studied through physical implants, and students could see that the operating room was a nightmare, littered with unsterile implements and the researchers’ food trash (the remnants of Vogel’s bagel sandwich, deliberately left behind).
—Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy Gabra Zackman Emma Kehlbeck Lance Neal, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
Coordinating schedules was something of a nightmare, and the hard work is still ahead, when all will gather in Kansas City for intensive rehearsals.
—Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2024
Aviva Siegel, who spent 51 days as a hostage in Gaza until she was released as part of the November deal, said her experience in captivity was a terrifying nightmare.
—Anna Schecter, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Or might the impending heart attack have precipitated the nightmare?
—Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
The nightmare scenario leaders here had long warned about — a direct attack from Iran — provided a public showcase of the regional coalition and high-tech systems built to repel it.
—Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nightmare.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Nightmare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nightmare. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nightmare
noun
Middle English nightmare "evil spirit thought to haunt people during sleep," from night "night" and mare "spirit," from Old English mare "evil spirit haunting people in sleep"
Medical Definition
nightmare
noun
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