nightmare

US /ˈnaɪt.mɛɚ/ UK /ˈnaɪt.mɛə/ See IPA manual

Freq #2602

Meanings

1

noun
A frightening or upsetting dream.

I woke up shaking after a terrible nightmare.
2

noun
A very difficult or unpleasant situation or experience.

The traffic on the way home was an absolute nightmare.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms nightmares

Derived forms daymareflightmarefrightmareknightmaremid-nightmaremidnightmaremorningmarenightmarelikenightmariousnightmarishnightmary

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

bureaucratic nightmare
a situation made extremely difficult by complicated official rules and procedures

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr.

*mer- Proto-Indo-European nyghtmare Middle English *nihtmare Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# nightmare

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈnaɪt.mɛɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnaɪt.mɛə/
**Frequency rank:** 2602

## Meanings
1. A frightening or upsetting dream.
2. A very difficult or unpleasant situation or experience.

## Examples
- I woke up shaking after a terrible nightmare.
- The traffic on the way home was an absolute nightmare.

## Derived Forms
- daymare
- flightmare
- frightmare
- knightmare
- mid-nightmare
- midnightmare
- morningmare
- nightmarelike
- nightmarious
- nightmarish
- nightmary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *mer-
- Root: nyghtmare
- Root: *nihtmare

## Etymology
From Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr.

## AI Etymology
Nightmare comes from Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *mer-, Middle English nyghtmare, and Old English *nihtmare. Modern senses include a frightening or upsetting dream and a very difficult or unpleasant situation or experience. The wider word family includes derivatives such as daymare, flightmare, frightmare, knightmare, mid-nightmare, and midnightmare.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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